Behavioral Analysis of a Group Decision-Making Process

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

Behavioral analysis of a group decision-making process Thomas D. Seeley One of the most spectacular examples of an animal group functioning as a collective decision-making agent is a swarm of honeybees choosing its future home. This phenomenon occurs in the late spring and early summer when a colony outgrows its hive and proceeds to divide itself by swarming. The swarm bees leave en masse, quickly forming a cloud of bees just outside the parental hive; they then coalesce into a beard-like cluster on a nearby tree branch where they choose their future dwelling place. The nest-site selection process starts with several hundred scout bees flying from the swarm cluster to search for tree cavities that meet the bees' real-estate preferences. The scouts then return to the cluster, report their findings by means of waggle dances, and work together to decide which one of the dozen or more possible nest sites that they have discovered should be the swarm's new home. The PI will determine (1) how the scouts in a honey bee swarm work together to make the decision regarding their future nest site, and (2) how they sense when they have finished making this decision. Such group decision making, or social choice, occurs in many species of group-living animals. Unraveling the mechanisms of social choice is essential to understanding how animal groups function and may even lead to novel methods of social choice by humans. A swarm of honey bees choosing its nest site is a striking and accessible form of social choice by animals.