FACT: “A flying bee expends energy at a rate of about 500 watts per kilogram (250 watts per pound), whereas the maximum power output of an Olympic rowing crew is only about 20 watts per kilogram (10 watts per pound). At any moment, however, only a small portion of the clustered bees will be shivering with maximum intensity, so the total heat output by the approximately two kilograms (four pounds) of bees in a winter cluster isn’t 1,000 watts, but is only about 40 watts, a rate of heat production like that of a small incandescent light bulb.”

Honeybee Democracy
by Thomas D. Seeley

Honeybees make decisions collectively—and democratically. Every year, faced with the life-or-death problem of choosing and traveling to a new home, honeybees stake everything on a process that includes collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and consensus building. In fact, as world-renowned animal behaviorist Thomas Seeley reveals, these incredible insects have much to teach us when it comes to collective wisdom and effective decision making. A remarkable and richly illustrated account of scientific discovery, Honeybee Democracy brings together, for the first time, decades of Seeley’s pioneering research to tell the amazing story of house hunting and democratic debate among the honeybees.

We invite you to browse our new 2011-2012 biology catalog at:
http://press.princeton.edu/catalogs/bio11.pdf

The catalog’s cover image is Pale-madibled Toucan (Pteroglossus erythropygius). The beautiful photo is by John Kricher, author of Tropical Ecology, one of the many great books featured in this year’s catalog.

Check out these favorites in new paperback editions:

The Origin Then and Now:
An Interpretive Guide to the Origin of Species
By David N. Reznick
With an introduction by Michael Ruse

How and Why Species Multiply:
The Radiation of Darwin’s Finches
By Peter R. Grant & B. Rosemary Grant

A Mathematical Nature Walk
By John A. Adam

Be on the lookout for these new and forthcoming titles (just to name a few):

Honeybee Democracy
By Thomas D. Seeley

Pollination and Floral Ecology
By Pat Willmer

Chemical Biomarkers in Aquatic Ecosystems
By Thomas S. Bianchi & Elizabeth A. Canuel

The Cryosphere
By Shawn J. Marshall

The Crossley ID Guide:
Eastern Birds
By Richard Crossley

The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs
By Gregory S. Paul

There are too many new and forthcoming titles to list here. You’re just going to have to check it out online: http://press.princeton.edu/catalogs/bio11.pdf

Robert Krulwich interviewed Thomas Seeley, author of Honeybee Democracy, this morning on Morning Edition.

Visit NPR’s site to listen in to the interview and also to enjoy some original bee-autiful (who could resist?!) and fun artwork by Adam Cole.

A quick excerpt from the web site:

In the spring, bee hives get so rich with honey, so crowded with baby bees, they often burst in two. Some bees stay in the original nest with a new queen, but a second group, led by the old queen, heads off to establish a new home. If there’s a cloud of bees hanging by a tree branch in your back yard, that’s them — the house hunters.

How do they choose a new home?

Ah, says Cornell professor Thomas Seeley, this is the beautiful part: The queen doesn’t say, “Here’s where we’re going!” She’s not in charge. The decision is made collectively, bottom-up, and it’s done by “voting.”

Bees are natural democrats.

Tune in to Science Friday on December 24 to hear an interview with biologist and apiarist Thomas Seeley. Seeley will discuss how honeybees find their new homes in a democratic way — a subject further described in his new Princeton University Press book Honeybee Democracy.

Science Friday also commissioned some terrific videos of Seeley and his bees. Check them out here: http://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/series/5/

Five Princeton books were recently featured in Financial Times‘ Nonfiction Round-Up for 2010! Here’s what FT had to say about them:

Business & Economics

	Banking on the Future: The Fall and Rise of Central Banking, by Howard Davies and David Green The best assessment yet of the role played by the leading western central banks – the US Federal Reserve, the ECB and the Bank of England – in the run-up to the financial crisis and beyond, from two former insiders at the top level of UK policymaking.
	Zombie Economics: How Dead Ideas Still Walk Among Us, by John Quiggin A critical look, from a left-leaning perspective, at some of the defining intellectual fashions of the past three decades. Quiggin is a writer of great verve who marshals some powerful evidence.
	Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy, by Raghuram G Rajan A high-powered yet accessible analysis of the financial crisis and its aftermath, Fault Lines was awarded the FT/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year. Rajan, a University of Chicago economist, was one of the few who warned that the crisis was coming and his book fizzes with striking and thought-provoking ideas.

Science & Environment

Honeybee Democracy, by Thomas D Seeley The year’s most enchanting science book. Seeley, biology professor at Cornell University, distils the insights of 40 years studying and keeping bees. He focuses on the astonishing “democratic” process that takes place when a swarm of thousands of bees leaves an overcrowded hive to find a new home: how scouts evaluate potential sites and advertise their merits, how a final choice is made, and how the swarm navigates to its new nest.

Sport

Gaming the World: How Sports Are Reshaping Global Politics and Culture, by Andrei S Markovits and Lars Rensmann A very readable guide to the recent globalisation of sport by academics who understand both US and European sports. Packed with examples, from David Beckham to Kobe Bryant, the book explores the tension between sport’s globalisation and the fact that most teams still arouse the greatest emotions in their local areas.

Definitely a great year of non-fiction books! Congratulations to all authors mentioned!

Continued »

When we think of bees, words that spring to mind may include honey, hives, or swarming. But democracy? In his new book, Tom Seeley gives us good reason to associate honeybees with democracy, as he shows how bees make a complex group decision in choosing their new nest. In light of his research, Seeley suggests five lessons we could learn from bees about making better group decisions. Seeley has even put these lessons to the test, successfully, when he chaired the Cornell biology department.

The 5 Rules of Honeybee Democracy

1. Compose a decision making group of individuals with shared interests.

In the case of bees, nobody can survive without the group. Humans don’t share this fate nor can they always choose who comprises their decision making group so we are often less inclined to cooperate. However, human groups can remember that the overarching goal is to make decisions that will benefit everyone involved and they can foster good morale and constructive comments.

2. Minimize the role of the leader.

Honeybees make decisions without a leader. The Queen sits on the sidelines and the group makes decisions without a leader telling them what to do. In turn, humans may benefit from a leader who is impartial and does not exert his or her influence on the group. The leader, rather, can create an atmosphere of open inquiry and disagreement and help the group tap its summed knowledge. Only then can the group fully exploit the power of collective decision making.

3. Seek diverse solutions.

Before a honeybee colony decides on a new home, the bees will explore miles of territory and up to 20 possible places to live. Clearly, they like to give themselves options. Here too humans can learn something from bees by promoting a thorough exploration of options when faced with a complex problem.

4. Debate, debate, debate!

Before a decision is made on the best site, there is often disagreement among the honeybees about which nest is the best candidate – the roomiest, sunniest, and highest off the ground. People, too, should engage in a spirited and civil exchange of views. In short, there should be an open and public competition of ideas but, like the bees, each person should make a private and personal evaluation of the ideas.

5. Use quorum for an accurate and speedy decision.

Unanimity is not always the answer when it comes to effective group decisions. Honeybees don’t have this luxury as they need to find their new home quickly and efficiently or risk death. The bees use quorum sensing, therefore, to make a speedy, yet accurate decision. Humans, too, can employ this tactic by periodically polling a group to see how close it is to agreement. If far from unanimity, then more debate is needed, but if only a small minority remains in support of a position then further debate may be pointless and it is better to switch to the majority and achieve consensus.

• Are those bees wearing hats? Why yes, in some respect, they are. The bees in the image above have been painstakingly numbered as part of Dr. Seeley’s research.
• Dr. Seeley was interviewed on Late Night Live, airing on Australian Broadcast Radio. Listen in here.

Biologist and beekeeper Thomas D. Seeley will be visiting Buffalo Street Books on October 17 to read and sign copies of his new book, Honeybee Democracy. If you miss this event, there will be another chance on October 20, when Seeley will discuss and autograph copies of his book at the Cornell Book Store, on Cornell University’s campus.

In a recent review of Honeybee Democracy, New Science wrote: “In Honeybee Democracy, Seeley carefully narrates his many seasons of experiments using plywood next boxes that could be moved and modified at will. He discovered what bees like in a home, how scouts measure the dark interiors of these boxes and most of all, how the swarm ‘votes’ to decide which nest to occupy. . . . Honeybee Democracy is a brilliant display of science at work, with each experiment explained and illustrated.”

Hope to see you at one of the upcoming events!

Continued »

We’re launching our Fall 2010 list this week with our sales conference. We invite you to be the first to checkout our new catalog online. http://press.princeton.edu/catalogs/F10trade.html Also available in PDF format: http://press.princeton.edu/catalogs/F10Seasonal.pdf