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What are those little white dots speckling the cliff wall of this sharp-cragged ravine? Bee hives, of course. As previously noted, every man, woman and child in Europe is apparently a beekeeper, and there is …

Best as I can tell, every man, woman and child in Europe keeps bees. No really, I just can’t get over how every store, every market, every roadside stand is loaded with twenty different kinds …

The New York Times’ year end magazine special “The Year in Ideas” is always full of treats, and this year is no exception. For obvious reasons, my favorite is The Honeycomb Vase. Using similar principles …

Took a nice bicycle ride out of Florence today up the Arno River and then left into the countryside and came upon these colorfully painted hives. Not sure what to make of the designs. Grade …

Found this little beauty in the Piazza Santissima Annunziata in Florence, 60 bees surrounding their queen on the rear side of the statue  of Ferdinando I by Giambologna (at right). I’m including the pictures of …

Two recent news articles relevant to bees and the hive mind: Bumblebee boogie analysis in webserver boost: The title has it wrong, as the algorithms are actually based on honey bee behavior, not bumblebee, but …

Another article on the Hive Mind, this one from NPR.org: Robots Infiltrate, Influence Cockroach Groups. In this one, scientists have somehow programmed tiny robots that interact with cockroaches in such a way that the cockroaches …

Interesting article in Tuesday’s New York Times on s Swarm Intelligence, a favorite topic here: From Ants to People, an Instinct to Swarm. Ito does a good job of explaining the basic concept of swarm …

If you’re visiting this site because you saw my talk at the Web 2.0 Expo in Berlin, Willkommen! As a bit of background, I’m taking a break from software (talk to me if you’re interested …