Do they really choose?

Although these choice tests come closer to
telling us what scouts are looking for, they
raise questions of whether a real choice is
made; biases in the search behavior of the
insects might produce the results without
a choice. This issue becomes more significant
in the context of the cognitive ability
of insects. The evaluation of nest sites is an
example of behavior that suggests complex
cognitive processing, perhaps even consciousness
in insects. 

Because of their significance to understanding
bee cognition, these questions of
whether nest-site properties are evaluated by
scouts or just result from search biases deserve
to be resolved.

Group Decision Making in Nest-Site Selection Among Social Insects
P. Kirk Visscher
Annu. Rev. Entomol. 2007. 52:255–75

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