Float like a butterfly, decide like a bee

Journal of Bioeconomics

Volume 17, Issue 3, 4 August 2015, Pages 243-254

  (Article)

Grüner, S. , 

Fietz, A. , 

Jantsch, A. 

Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Karl-Freiherr-von-Fritsch-Str. 4, Halle (Saale), Germany 

View references (48)

Abstract

The decision-making behavior of individuals is limited by a lack of information and a limited capacity to process information. When seeking locations to construct a hive, the honeybee Apis mellifera collectively succeeds at overcoming these individual limitations and, thus, arrives at (nearly) optimal decisions. This article examines the behaviors and coordination mechanisms that have reinforced this trait in the course of evolution. We consider what lessons might be learned concerning human behavior and how better decisions can be made. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author keywords

Apis oeconomicus; Bounded rationality; Collective intelligence/group intelligence; Honeybee Apis mellifera; Superorganism

Indexed keywords

GEOBASE Subject Index: cognition; decision making; human behavior

Species Index: Apis; Apis mellifera; Apoidea

ISSN: 13876996Source Type: Journal Original language: English

DOI: 10.1007/s10818-015-9204-5Document Type: Article

Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers

References (48)

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  Grüner, S.; Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Karl-Freiherr-von-Fritsch-Str. 4, Germany
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