Scientists have discovered how bee colonies make collective decisions without a single leader.

It turned out that the efficiency of the hive depends on the right balance between bold explorers, who are ready to take risks, and cautious individuals, who go out in search of food only under favorable conditions.

The results of this study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Despite the presence of a queen bee, honey bees do not receive instructions from her. Instead, the hive functions as a decentralized system: individual individuals collect information about the environment and pass it on to other members of the community.

A mathematical model developed by researchers at the University of Cincinnati, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of Houston has shown that the optimal strategy is for a small group of bees to constantly take on the risk of searching for resources, while the majority conserve energy and wait for suitable conditions.

Such a system enables the hive to respond quickly to changes. If the scouts notice an improvement in the situation—for example, the appearance of new sources of nectar and pollen, the remaining bees receive a signal and begin to forage more actively.

The scientists used mathematical methods, including probability models, the Bellman equation, Markov processes, and computer simulations, to determine the most effective strategy for the behavior of the bee collectives.

The study showed that large colonies do not need a proportional increase in the number of “risky” individuals. A hive that grows ten times larger does not necessarily have ten times as many scouts if information spreads quickly within the group.

Similar patterns of behavior are also observed in some other social insects. For example, desert ants reduce their foraging trips during hot and dry periods to conserve water.

In honeybees, scouts transmit information through the famous “bee dance,” which communicates the direction, distance, and quality of a food source they have found.

The researchers said the results of their work help to better understand how leaderless collectives can make effective decisions in a changing environment. Such principles could be useful not only for studying animals, but also for developing models for managing complex systems.