> To generate a colony organism from a bug organism requires 
> only that the bugs be multiplied so that there are many, 
> many more of them, and that they communicate with each other. 

No, there really isn't even a need for communication with 
each other.  

The bugs need only share a goal, and have a metric for measuring 
progress.  So, the odor/pheromone given off by empty comb prompts
more foraging sorties, as the larder is not yet full.

In the early 1980s, I did something that I should repeat at 
an EAS, ABF, or AHPA meeting sometime -  a turned a room of 
500 of my reporting first and second-level managers AT&T 
Bell Labs into a "bee colony" for a few minutes.

I said nothing about bees at the time, as I was merely trying 
to make the point that everyone had to agree on the specifics 
of a consensus we were trying to reach.  (I wanted even the 
die-hard "opposition" to work with the consensus, not against,
and I wanted the endless meetings to end, so work could go
faster).

Each person was given a remote control salvaged from when 
cable TV systems upgraded to new set-top boxes.  They
were told ONLY to use the volume "Up" and "Down" buttons, 
and that they were "the blue player".

Then, the lights came down, and on the projection
screen appeared the Game "Pong" (the ping-pong 
game that has been copied over and over).

And, 500 people played me at Pong.  The remotes were read
by a computer, which added up the "up" and "down" presses
on each of the 500 controllers, and moved their ping-pong
paddle appropriately.  Within 3 or 4 practice balls, they
were returning serves, and playing well.

So, we then played a game, and they won.  You'd think
that 500 players "voting" would slow down the response, and 
make them miss balls, but that did not happen.  No one needed
to speak, and no "leader" was needed.  All that they needed
was a simple set of rules to play by, a shared goal, and
an agreed-upon metric for success.

Bees are just like that, and now you know how to prove it.

And I think this is generally called "The Wisdom Of Crowds"
these days.  

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