The Buzz About Bees: Biology Of A Superorganism
by Jürgen Tautz /
2009 / English / PDF
22.9 MB Download
Tis book, already translated into ten languages, may at frst sight
appear to be just about honeybees and their biology. It c- tains,
however, a number of deeper messages related to some of the most
basic and important principles of modern biology. Te bees are
merely the actors that take us into the realm of phys- ology,
genetics, reproduction, biophysics and learning, and that introduce
us to the principles of natural selection underlying the evolution
of simple to complex life forms. Te book destroys the cute notion
of bees as anthropomorphic icons of busy self-sacr -i fcing
individuals and presents us with the reality of the colony as an
integrated and independent being―a “superorganism”―with its own,
almost eerie, emergent group intelligence. We are s- prised to
learn that no single bee, from queen through drone to sterile
worker, has the oversight or control over the colony. - stead,
through a network of integrated control systems and fee- backs, and
communication between individuals, the colony - rives at consensus
decisions from the bottom up through a type of “swarm
intelligence”. Indeed, there are remarkable parallels between the
functional organization of a swarming honeybee colony and
vertebrate brains.
Tis book, already translated into ten languages, may at frst sight
appear to be just about honeybees and their biology. It c- tains,
however, a number of deeper messages related to some of the most
basic and important principles of modern biology. Te bees are
merely the actors that take us into the realm of phys- ology,
genetics, reproduction, biophysics and learning, and that introduce
us to the principles of natural selection underlying the evolution
of simple to complex life forms. Te book destroys the cute notion
of bees as anthropomorphic icons of busy self-sacr -i fcing
individuals and presents us with the reality of the colony as an
integrated and independent being―a “superorganism”―with its own,
almost eerie, emergent group intelligence. We are s- prised to
learn that no single bee, from queen through drone to sterile
worker, has the oversight or control over the colony. - stead,
through a network of integrated control systems and fee- backs, and
communication between individuals, the colony - rives at consensus
decisions from the bottom up through a type of “swarm
intelligence”. Indeed, there are remarkable parallels between the
functional organization of a swarming honeybee colony and
vertebrate brains.
