His topic “Honeybees and how they use mathematics” attracted wide interest and the packed audience was entertained and informed. He gave a short background on the distribution and species of honeybees and then focussed on their exceptional abilitiess.
He explained how honeybees dance and thereby communicate the distance and direction of a food source to fellow nest mates. Experiments illustrated that bees can count up to four and solve optimisation problems of which the hexagonal structure of the wax cells is an example.
The morning concluded in the luscious mathematics garden where guests could experience the hospitality of the Department and discuss the topic with Prof Pirk.
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