Bees have been around for 110 million years or so, but it was only a couple of thousand years ago that we started to grasp their potential for helping humanity. The ancient Mayans were among the first, harnessing the stingless Middle American honey bee for agriculture. Their shamans revered the creatures, believing that each one had a soul.

Later studies have confirmed this intuitive respect for their intelligence. The Nobel laureate Karl von Frisch (1886-1982) dedicated his life to deciphering how honey bees communicate, discovering that by dancing, vertically, in the dark, they signal the exact location of nectar, pollen, water and tree resin, or other important information.

He also found that bees can count to five, and trained them to visit feeding stations at specific periods of the day. Bees, he found, have a memory for time and space, using landmarks such as trees, rock formations or barns to help guide themselves. This system – and the ability to count – is employed when deciding on where to build a new hive. Scouts seek out various options, then propose a vote: 15 is the crucial number for a quorum.

Bees also rely heavily on scent to perform daily activities. A worker bee’s […]