[log in to unmask] wrote:

> Unlike a KING or QUEEN, PRESIDENT, DICTATOR, PRIME MINISTER, or BOSS, honey
> bees
> have NO bee that is their leader, director, or boss.  The queen bee makes NO
> decisions about anything, including swarming, how many eggs to lay, whether
> they are to be drones or workers, or how much she eats.  All colony decisions
> are made
> by the worker bees as a group which has NO leader.  This is difficult for we
> humans to understand, but it is "nature's way" with honey bees.

To add to what George said, there was an interesting computer simulation
done several years ago which had the workers randomly placing honey and
pollen into cells on a frame as well as the queen laying randomly. The
simulation included pulling pollen and honey to feed brood and bees and
the normal brood cycle. When the simulation finally reached a stable
state, the frame had the classic brood/pollen/honey pattern of what we
would call a good laying queen.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, ME