Suppose the bee to be no more than an abstract idea in our minds, suppose
insect societies to be not societies but organisms of which the bees, the
ants, the termites are the cells? This would merely presuppose that the
intercellular relationships
 are less well defined than in our own bodies: the "cells" could detach
>themselves temporarily from the organism to go and search for food, defend
the colony against attack etc. And all the comparisons that have been made,
or could be made, between human society and that of bees would  come from a
basic misunderstanding of the true nature of bees.'
>He describes the hive as a "super-organism". He discusses the organisms
>ability to contain its reproductive organs (ovaries of the queen and
>testicles of the male), respiration through ventilation (fanning),
>circulation (exchange of food), heat production. He asks 'where is the
>nervous system, where is the brain? ... If , in fact, the little brains
>can interconnect, pool their resources and all work together they can
>then work on a far superior level.'.
 
Several points:
 
Can we treat the colony being made up of  individual brain cells ( the
individual insect)
all connected together in a brainlike matrix by their antenna while the
gaseous environment is "bathed" in pheromones instead of hormones as in the
case of the animals.
 
Is there any mileage in the old idea of telling the bees of the death of
their beekeper or is this anthromorpism? or Conversely do the bees know you.
like dogs and horses apparently do. Could this be why "old" beekeepers seem
to  be able to handel their bees without nets or gloves (cf Brother Adam)
 
Are bees "hefted" to their area like lambs born on the hills never stray too
far away.