Letter: Observation of Bee Behaviour Has Lessons For Us All

Published on: 7 Dec, 2017
Updated on: 7 Dec, 2017

From Harry Eve

Hugh Coakley’s B Plus for Learning is a fascinating article on an area of research that is leading to greater understanding of our own place in the scheme of things. This has probably only become possible as attitudes have changed and our thinking is less fettered by entrenched viewpoints.

If I understand it correctly, it seems that evolution tends to lead to degrees of intelligence in creatures that depend on complex social interaction and/or predatory capabilities – both aspects requiring higher levels of mental skill.

Physical attributes must help too. Crows have claws and a beak to work with. I wonder what they would achieve if they had hands with opposable thumbs.

The bees all seem to work towards a common goal so they would probably share a nectar card whereas our own social interactions are tempered by various degrees of selfishness and greed with behaviours varying widely between individuals. We also invented money…