Bees In My Neighborhood

Up to 50 percent of the hives needed to pollinate many of the nation’s fruits and vegetables have been wiped out over the last year, 

Summer seems like an appropriate time to talk about how bees and investors are alike. Both bees and humans fall prey to something called a negative cognitive bias - or thinking that just because something bad has happened, more bad things are on the way.  A negative cognitive bias might help a colony of bees [...]

Airports in Germany have come up with an unusual approach to monitoring air quality. The Düsseldorf International Airport and seven other airports are using bees as “biodetectives,” their honey regularly tested for toxins. ...Beekeepers from the local neighborhood club keep the bees. The honey, “Düsseldorf Natural,” is bottled and given away as gifts.

Variety recently named my movie-producer brother, Nicholas Tabarrok, one of 10 Producers to Watch.  Starting tomorrow he will be guest blogging for week here at Marginal Revolution.  Nicholas's firm, Darius Films, has produced a lot of good indie movies including

That logo! SO crazy!

It appears, therefore, that a swarm's scout bees do something sharply different from what humans do to reach a full agreement in a debate.  Both bees and humans need a group's members to avoid stubbornly supporting their first view, but whereas we humans will usually (and sensibly) ive up on a position only after we have learned of a better one, the bees will stop supporting a position automatically.  As is shown...after a shorter or longer time, each scout bee becomes silent and leaves the rest of the debate to a new set of bees.  Figur