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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
Bill Hesbach <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 12 Dec 2023 12:26:15 -0500
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> I wonder why nobody quarrels with the term "eusocial"

Holldobler and Wilson use the word eusocial to define superorganism.  

"For those who prefer a stricter definition, the term superorganism may be applied only to colonies of an advanced state of eusociality, in which interindividual conflict for reproductive privilege is diminished and the worker caste is selected to maximize colony efficiency in intercolony competition." 

I like the way this definition sounds, even though I'm not sure I completely understand it since words are not the best way we have to communicate, and they often fail miserably when used to explain an observation.  At best, they can elicit a felt sense of something, and at their worst, they are used to weaponize our bias.  


The Super Organism
Bert Holldobler and E.O. Wison  
Norton Press

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