Stan Sandler wrote:
>
>On this same note,
> although it is a matter of instinct, and not intelligence, I am constantly
> amazed that a single bee performs, at different ages, ALL the various tasks
> and associated behaviours that the hive requires.  When you add this
> information to all the complicated sensory and response behaviour (including
> some senses like magnetoreception which we lack) you just have to marvel
> that it can all fit in that tiny brain.
 
Yes, this is really an impressive performance by these little
creatures.  If you think about it, most other social insects have
several more castes than the honey bee does, just in order to have some
individuals who are specialized for different colony tasks: soldiers,
nurses, etc.  In this regard, I suppose that the honey bee would be
considered to be not as evolutionarily specialized as termites and
ants.  But on the other hand, the variety of responsibilities each bee
has makes this society much more interesting to me.
 
Ted Fischer
Dexter, Michigan USA