Bee brains reveal how colonies coordinate without a central controller

 Honeybee colonies organise work without any leader assigning tasks, but scientists have now discovered that specific brain circuits help control this process. By changing the activity of a gene-linked neural circuit, researchers made older worker bees return to caring for the queen, a job usually done only by younger bees. The findings offer new insight into how bees coordinate complex social behaviour. Honeybee colonies organise work without any leader assigning tasks, but scientists have now discovered that specific brain circuits help control this process. By changing the activity of a gene-linked neural circuit, researchers made older worker bees return to caring for the queen, a job usually done only by younger bees. The findings offer new insight into how bees coordinate complex social behaviour.