Flying Math: Bees Solve Traveling Salesman Problem

From Wired Science, 09-21-2012. Bumblebees foraging in flowers for nectar are like salesmen traveling between towns: Both seek the optimal route to minimize their travel costs.

Mathematicians call this the “traveling salesman problem,” in which scientists try to calculate the shortest possible route given a theoretical arrangement of cities. Bumblebees, however, take the brute-force approach:

For them, it’s simply a matter of experience, plus trial and error, scientists report.