Quorum Wisdom: How Scout Bees Steer a Swarm to the Best Nest
Bees decide where to relocate not by a vote but via a quorum-based process: scout bees explore multiple potential cavities, advertise promising sites with waggle dances that encode site quality, and once about 15 scouts cluster at a single site, the swarm mobilizes and leaves for the chosen nest—often the best option, though the process can take two to three days and costs energy for accuracy.