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Biology · Social insects

Hive & Colony

Find out why bees build hexagons, decode the waggle dance, see like a bee and watch ants find the shortest path.

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First lesson01 · Meet the colony: queen, workers, dronesSee all 28 lessons →

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The course

7 worlds · 28 lessons

World 1 · Inside the Hive

FREEOne family of tens of thousands, living as a single unit
  1. 01Meet the colony: queen, workers, dronesThree kinds of bee, one family · 11 min
  2. 02From egg to beeThree days, a few more days, and a new bee · 12 min
  3. 03A bee's jobs change with ageThe same worker is a cleaner, a nurse, a builder, a guard and a forager · 11 min
  4. 04The hive's yearSpring growth, summer harvest, autumn clear-out, winter cluster · 12 min

World 2 · Why Hexagons?

PROGeometry, wax and a famous theorem
  1. 01Which shapes tile a floor?Gaps, angles and 360 degrees · 11 minPRO
  2. 02Same area, how much wall?Hexagons save wax · 12 minPRO
  3. 03The honeycomb conjecture, and how bees really buildA proof, a 2013 idea, and an honest "scientists still discuss it" · 13 minPRO
  4. 04Cells, tilt and waxTwo-sided comb, a small upward slope and walls thinner than paper · 11 minPRO

World 3 · The Waggle Dance

PROHow bees share a map without a map
  1. 01Scouts, foragers and informationA returning bee has news · 11 minPRO
  2. 02Reading the danceAngle means direction, time means distance · 13 minPRO
  3. 03The Sun moves, and bees keep timeA compass that needs a clock · 12 minPRO
  4. 04Democracy in a swarmChoosing a new home without a leader · 13 minPRO

World 4 · Seeing Like a Bee

PROEyes, ultraviolet, polarised sky and a nose on each antenna
  1. 01A compound eyeThousands of tiny lenses · 11 minPRO
  2. 02UV and the flower's secret mapColours we cannot see, and one we hardly see at all · 12 minPRO
  3. 03The polarised sky compassA pattern in blue sky that bees can read · 13 minPRO
  4. 04Smell, taste and touchMost of the hive is dark and runs on chemistry · 12 minPRO

World 5 · Ant Trails and Shortest Paths

PROFrom a line of ants to an algorithm
  1. 01Following the scentMessages written on the ground · 11 minPRO
  2. 02The double-bridge experimentHow a colony picks the shorter way · 13 minPRO
  3. 03From ants to algorithmsVirtual ants on a map · 14 minPRO
  4. 04Evaporation and explorationWhy forgetting helps · 12 minPRO

World 6 · The Colony as a Superorganism

PRODecisions without a decider
  1. 01A thermostat made of beesKeeping the nursery at the right temperature · 12 minPRO
  2. 02Division of labour without a bossThe response-threshold idea · 12 minPRO
  3. 03Swarming: how a colony reproducesA colony that divides in two · 12 minPRO
  4. 04Defence and diseaseGuards, mites and clean-up crews · 12 minPRO

World 7 · Why Pollinators Matter

PROBees, flies, moths, bats and the food on your plate
  1. 01What pollinators doMoving pollen from flower to flower · 11 minPRO
  2. 02Foods that need pollinatorsCounting species and counting tonnes · 13 minPRO
  3. 03What threatens pollinatorsMany pressures at once · 12 minPRO
  4. 04How you can helpRealistic actions, big or small · 11 minPRO
Hive & Colony — interactive 3D lab · Novareka