Nine Lectures on Bees. Rudolf Steiner, 1923, p. 12

“For you see, in reality, things go on in the hive in exactly the same way as in the human head, only with a slight difference. In our head, for instance, the substances do not grow to such dimensions. In the human head we have nerves, blood-vessels, and the separately situated round-shaped cells which are always to be found. We have these three varieties of cells in the human head. The nerves consist of separate cells which only do not grow into independent beings because Nature encloses them on all sides; in reality, however, these nerves would like to become little animals. If the nerve-cells of the human head could develop in all directions, under the same conditions as those of the hive, then the nerve-cells would become drones. The blood-cells which flow in the veins would become worker bees; and the single free cells which are, above all, in the centre of the head and go through the shortest period of development, may be compared with the Queen bees.”

Honeybee Democracy. Thomas D. Seeley 2010, p. 217

“It is possible that primate brains and honeybee swarms have independently evolved the same basic decision-making scheme precicsely because it provides a good approximation of optimal decision making. If this hunch is correct, then we are looking at an astonishing convergence in the adaptive design of two physically distinct forms of “thinking machine” – a brain built of neurons and a swarm built of bees.”

Ways of Being, James Bridle 2022, p. 262

“An average swarm of bees weighs around 1.5 kilograms, roughly the same as the human brain. This isn’t the only similarity. The way in which the brain makes decisions, integrating input from multiple senses, closely mirrors the way in which a bee swarm integrates information from multiple individuals. And this kind of integration turns out to be the best way of choosing between multiple competing options, as close as we know how to get optimal decision making.”