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NahLifland

Ms.AmyHooper

WorldHistory

29November2015

HoneybeeDemocracy
Honeybeesareaverysocialspeciesofbeesthatrelyonlivinginanorganizedhivefor
survival.Buteverygrouporhivemusthaveagoverningsystemofsomesorttokeepthepeace,
honeybeesusedemocracy.Itmayseemliketheyareamonarchybecausetheyhaveaqueen,but
thequeenisactuallyonlytheretolayeggsandreleasepheromonestolettherestofthehive
knowsheisokay.Besidesthatshedoesntdomuch.Thequeendoesn'tsay,"Here'swhere
we'regoing!"She'snotincharge.Thedecisionismadecollectively,bottomup,andit'sdoneby
"voting."saysCornellprofessorThomasSeeley,ofCornellCollege.Insteadtheentirebodyof
thehivemakeunbiased,democraticdecisionsforthegoodofthehive,thesamewaywedo.
Beesarenaturallydemocraticbecausetheymakeunifieddecisionsbyhavingequalvotes.But
howdotheyvote?

Waggledancing.Thisishowbees"vote"theydancethemselvesintoaconsensus.
explains

CornellprofessorThomasSeeley.Itsoundssillybutitisactuallyaverysophisticated
methodofcommunicationuniquetohoneybees.Waggledancingonlyworksbecausebees,who
seeinultravioletlightandhavepolarizedeyes,virtuallyalwayshaveanaccurateideaofwhere
thesunisatanymomentduringtheday.Theworkerbeewillstartmovinginafigure8shape
wheretheymoveinazigzagmotionwhentheygettothecenterandthencyclethroughagain
andagain.Thezigzagmotionisthepartwhereinformationisconveyed.Thezigzaggoesinthe

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directionthatisthesamedegreeofdifferencefromthepositionofthesunandthepositionofa
foodsource.Thelengthoftimeofthezigzagisthedistancefromthehive.Onceshedoesthis,
otherbeeswillgoandcheckitoutforthemselves.Theyalsousethismethodtoselectnewhive
sites.Whenacolonyneedsfindanewhometheolderworkerbeesactasscoutsandgoand
searchforpossiblenestspots.Thisiswheredemocracycomesin.Scoutbeesgooutandsearch
thesurroundingareaforpossiblenestingsites.Whentheycomebacktheyprovidedirectionsto
theirsiteswithawaggledancetohelpotherbeesfinditandseeforthemselves.Professor
ThomasSeeleytells,Ifabee
reallylikesthesite,
shewilldanceherdirectionsoverandover
andover,literallyhundredsoftimes.Thiswayeverybeegetstoseeeachspot.Thentheycan
choosethebestsiteforthenewhive.

Therearenonaturalleaders.Beesarenaturaldemocrats.They'vebeenshapedthatway
byevolution...Beesarebiologicallyincapableofhavingleaders,soeveryoneisofequal
importance.Alsoeverybeeinahivehasbeenlaidbythequeen,meaningtheyareallsiblingsor
atleastrelatives,sotherearenorivalriesamongdifferentfamiliesbecausetheyareallrelated.

Beesarenaturallyunbiased.Theyreonlyinterestedinthewelfareofthehive,theyhave
nootherpersonalinterests.Soscoutbeesdontgetsuperattachedtoaparticularsite."Inthe
worldofscoutbees,youdon'thavediehardbeesthatjustdanceanddanceanddanceforever."
Theyareallonlyinterestedinthesurvivalofthehivesothattheirgenescanbepassedtothe
nextgenerationbythequeen.Becauseofthattheyneedveryspecificsites,sowhenoneisfound
theysimplydontcarewhofounditoranythinglikethat.

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Beesarenaturallydemocraticbecausetheymakeunifieddecisionsbyhavingequal
votes.UsingtheanalyzedevidencetosupportmystatementIsaythatbeesmakeunified
decisionsbecausetheyareallonlyinterestedinthewelfareofthehivesotheywillallnaturally
agreeonwhichsiteisthebesthive.Theyhaveequalvotesbecausetheyareallgeneticequals,
eachwiththesameamountofswayandinfluenceovereachother,soeverypartyinvolvedgets
anequalvote.Andlastlytheyvote.Theycasttheirvotebydancingforasite,usingthewaggle
dance.FromthisevidenceIcanhappilysaythatbeesareindeeddemocratic.

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WorkCited.
Krulwich,Robert."Nature'sSecret:WhyHoneyBeesAreBetterPoliticiansThanHumans."
NPR
.NPR,23Oct.2012.Web.22Nov.2015.
http://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/05/24/136391522/naturessecretwhyhoneybeesare
betterpoliticiansthanhumans