Honeybee democracy
by Thomas D. Seeley · first published 2010
16mentions
8recommended by
9HN commenters
2019–2026first – last mentioned
89% recommend11% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Readers praise its clear, well-illustrated account of decades of research on how honeybee swarms reach collective decisions, and say it offers a useful model for swarm intelligence and group decision making.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"Honeybees make decisions collectively
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…back to the cluster. Through a voting process, the workers decide and move as one to the permanent home. If you're interested in this topic (which is fascinating), there is a great book on it called 'Honeybee Democracy' by the bee researcher Thomas Seeley. > That said, my grandfather was a beekeeper and a father is a beekeeper and I'm a little uncertain about how much of their hobby is built on communal agreement,…
on “Swarm of bees follow car for over 24 hours (2016)” ↗Inspired by the behavior of bees and the Seeley's Honeybee Democracy book, I created and gave a talk, titled Extreme Cooperation of Superorganisms - Four Lessons Humans Can Learn from Bees: https://slides.com/petermoskovits/superorganism/
on “How Bees Argue” ↗This is covered quite well in "Honeybee Democracy" by Seeley. Absolutely fascinating read about swarm intelligence.
on “Honey Bees Inspired Optimization Method: The Bees Algorithm” ↗…Thomas Seeley reveals, these incredible insects have much to teach us when it comes to collective wisdom and effective decision making. A remarkable and richly illustrated account of scientific discovery, Honeybee Democracy brings together, for the first time, decades of Seeley's pioneering research to tell the amazing story of house hunting and democratic debate among the honeybees. In the late spring and early summer,…
on “The evolution of honey bee brains” ↗Amazing book I am almost finishing up - Honeybee Democracy - How honeybees make collective decisions―and what we can learn from this amazing democratic process https://www.amazon.com/Honeybee-Democracy-Thomas-D-Seeley/dp... From what I read, I can only imagine…
on “Study shows glyphosate impairs learning in bumblebees” ↗…learning mechanism based on bayesian/statistical truths are bee swarms [1] :) In case you are interested in a project like this, that's basically what we are building @ tholian.network [1] Check out Honeybee Democracy by Thomas Seeley
on “The one database/file/zip to save humanity, what is it?” ↗I read a great book Honeybee Democracy by Thomas Dyer Seeley (2010) Highly recommended for more information on bees and their hives.
on “Honeybees cluster together when it's cold – but we've been wrong about why” ↗I read Dr. Seeley's Honeybee Democracy in 2021, and then again early 2023 (after using ChatGPT). It was my favorite non-fiction read 2021 (Steinbeck's East of Eden for fiction). The last chapters touch on how simple rulesets can create incredible…
on “Pain in Crustaceans” ↗I'll add mine: Dr. Seely's Honeybee Democracy, which I read in 2022 (during my first GPT-2 experiences). The book discusses basic bee dances, but then expands much further into Seely's own research discovering how simple rulesets allow for the complexity…
on “My favorite nonfiction animal books that make you go holy shit” ↗…boggle my fleshy little brain. Instead of myself rambling on about apis mellifora, I'd rather just recommend reading one of the most incredible and technical (and beautiful) books ever: Dr. Seely's "HONEYBEE DEMOCRACY," which has a concluding chapter about the applications to robotics/neural.networks from having observed simple bees for decades.
on “The evolution of honey bee brains” ↗You might also enjoy Honeybee Democracy The author goes miles deep on the subject of swarming and how a few thousand bees decide -all together- to inhabit a new home. Very meaty, with clear presentation of years of research. https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780691147215
on “Honeybees found using tools to repel giant hornet attacks” ↗I'm was a network engineer and I have to admit I wouldn't be on the peer-to-peer path I took if I wouldn't have read the book "Honeybee Democracy". It's an amazing non programming related book that teaches a working concept of swarm intelligence and their communication algorithms and behaviours. In the networked computers world this has so many…
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life?” ↗…"bee-deserted island" (with no honeybee colonies). The icing on the cake is that bees hold a democratic debate & voting as they make a life/death decision. He shared it all in his easy-to-read illustrated book: Honeybee Democracy, highly recommended.
on “Bees struggle to find flowers because of air pollution” ↗…final instar (i.e. once they begin flying, nothing gets repaired). It's not just flightmiles, any wing usage rolls the lifetime odometer (e.g. fanning, flying, dancing). ---- Add Dr. Thomas Seely's "Honeybee Democracy" to your reading list. And may all your honeyflows remain prosperous. —Two-hive Beeker
on “Elephants Are Total Scaredy-Cats Around Bees” ↗…back to the cluster. Through a voting process, the workers decide and move as one to the permanent home. > If you're interested in this topic (which is fascinating), there is a great book on it called 'Honeybee Democracy' by the bee researcher Thomas Seeley. Fascinating! So it isn't a monarchy after all? :P Thanks for the recommendation.
on “Swarm of bees follow car for over 24 hours (2016)” ↗