> "bee hive as superorganism" is a poor metaphor, as the bees refute
> it by their observable actions.  They clearly do not obey any single
> central "brain", standard equipment on all mammals.

But the mammalian brain is itself a collection of cells, each of which
responds to stimuli and emits outputs, and this group of cells does
not itself *have* a single point of command and control.

(We could also get into the fact that the brain isn't the *single*
point of command and control of a mammal; there are reflexes, hormonal
communication, microbiomes, and so on.)

And I think that most people would consider individual insects to be
"organisms", but aren't their "brains" spread out over seveal ganglia,
and thus, not a single central brain?

So resist the argument that the colony is not a superorganism
because it doesn't have a central point of control.


Anne, backyard beekeeper.

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