Graphic detail | Social distan-sting
Just like modern humans, honeybees avoid each other amid plagues
They segregate behaviours in different parts of their hives to prevent parasites from spreading
HUMANS HAVE used social distancing to fight infectious disease for centuries. In 1582 a health officer in Alghero, Sardinia, which was suffering an outbreak of bubonic plague, required residents to carry six-foot-long canes in public, and venture no closer to each other than its length.
This article appeared in the Graphic detail section of the print edition under the headline “Social distan-sting”
From the November 27th 2021 edition
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