The Circle Closes

Abstract

The bee colony superorganism is more than the simple sum of all its parts. It possesses properties that one does not find in single bees, although many of the properties of single bees are determined and influenced by those of the entire colony, within the framework of its sociophysiology.

The relationships and procedures in a bee colony are highly complex, because small behavioral building blocks are simultaneously and continually being contributed by thousands of individual bees to the collective behavior of the colony. Complex biological systems, through their plasticity, adapt over the short term to relevant aspects of the environment, or over the long term through evolution.