🐝 High Nest Sites vs Low Nest sites? New Video. A.I Generated content (Yes or No?). Livestreams coming.

Hello Insiders,

In our last episode (the first in our nest selection series), we explored Dr. Thomas Seeley's elegant experiment which proved that honey bee swarms don't actually prefer to travel long distances. Nature make them do it.

By placing identical nest boxes 20 meters and 400 meters away, he showed that bees simply choose the nearest acceptable cavity. and end up far away in nature simply because suitable sites close to home are rare. Watch the full explanation on youtube HERE.

But what about height and visibility?

When an experienced beekeeper told Dr. Seeley that wild honey bees prefer "higher nest sites with high visibility," Seeley decided to question that assumption and put it to the test. The results reveal a sophisticated, democratic decision-making process that I explore in this week's band-new video. (Link for the video at the end of the post).

Here is a glimpse of what Dr. Seeley discovered:

The Preference for Height

To test if bees truly prefer high elevations, Seeley set up identical nest boxes—one placed just one meter off the ground, and the other five meters (about 16 feet) up. The results were clear: out of eight swarms, six chose the higher box, showing a statistically significant preference for height. This provides a vital evolutionary advantage, offering security and survival against predators like badgers, bears, and ants.

Visibility vs. Discoverability

Does a nest need to be a highly visible landmark? Seeley set up another experiment, placing one box in an open, easily accessible location and another tucked behind dense vegetation. The bees overwhelmingly chose the accessible box. This revealed that "high visibility" is actually about ease of discovery during scouting. If a potential home is hidden behind thick brush, fewer scout bees will find it, meaning it receives fewer "votes" during the swarm's democratic decision-making process.

What I love most about this research is how it highlights the collective intelligence of the swarm. Finding a home is a decentralized process where no single bee makes the final decision. Instead, hundreds of scouts inspect potential sites and return to perform waggle dances to advertise their findings, gradually building a consensus so the swarm can move as one.

And in this system, what truly counts is firsthand, real-life experience—which is very different from what humans often call democracy. Humans frequently follow and give attention to people who lack actual experience in the very things they are trying to get votes for. For example, politicians might passionately talk about family issues despite never having raised a child themselves. In the honey bee world, however, any bee asking for votes regarding the quality of a cavity must have been there to inspect it personally. The bee asking for the vote has skin in the game and a bad decision compromise everybody in the colony.

Dr. Seeley's experiments open a window into the remarkable mind of the honey bee—a mind that perfectly balances instinct with flexibility, and individual exploration with collective wisdom.

Next time, we'll dive even deeper into this process and explore what happens when swarms face competing options of nearly equal quality, and how they manage to break the tie.

Livestream updates

I am excited to share a new idea with you all: I am planning to host a special livestream at the conclusion of every video series. One with all YouTube subscribers and another one only for premium subscribers of this newsletter.

For example, once we wrap up our current series on nest selection, I would love to have everybody join me live so we can review the videos and experiments together. It will be a great opportunity to discuss whether we missed any fascinating details—and for you to catch any mistakes I might have made!

Additionally, I already have some amazing guests lined up for fun, deep-dive discussions about UBO projects, interesting potential new honey bee behaviors discovered, PrimalBee founders and a new anti-varroa mite product in the market.

If time permits, I am also planning to incorporate some live lectures into these sessions.

Right now, I am thinking of hosting these on Thursdays at 7:00 PM ET and run it until 8 or 9.

What are your thoughts? Please leave a comment to let me know if this time works for you!

PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS

First of all, I want to thank you for your support. It truly helps me continue creating educational videos online.

If you have suggestions for the livestreams please feel free to let me know.

I would like to ask your opinion about something. In the world of AI, theire is an overwhelming amont of content being generated by these new tools.

My experience has been, to say the least, frustrating because AI-generated content, regardless of the tool I test, often includes inaccuracies, logical flaws, and misleading interpretations.

I recently generated some content that seemed a little better, (Not perfect) and I would like to know if you would be interested in seeing more of this type of content at Inside The Hive TV.

Thanks for your feedback!

Acess all the materials below.

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