Math Bee-haviors: The Surprising Math Abilities of Honey Bees
“…that vast book which stands forever opened before our eyes, I mean the universe, … cannot be read until we have learned the language… It is written in mathematical language, … without which… it is humanly impossible to comprehend a single word.” — Galileo, the Father of Modern Science.
Everyone knows about honeybees. However, the bees have known what human mathematicians didn’t know for thousands of years. A honeybee may be the most extraordinary creature in the universe. Its body is beautifully patterned, can fly wherever it wants, spends its time near beautiful flowers, produces the most delicious and incredible substance in nature, honey, and, most importantly, it is a great mathematician.
The amount of knowledge they have of the world around them is comparable to graduating from the best science and engineering schools. They show us that mathematics is the language of nature and science. Aristotle was one of the first to document the intriguing behavior of honeybees. For centuries afterward, mathematicians have been become fascinated with bees.
