Word: swarmming
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...eleven-point question is not whether Van Doren will go on gambling on TV but whether his whole career may-not be about to veer again. His celebrity has drawn a swarm of offers: to appear on TV as guest star, panelist, moderator of his own series, to edit almanacs and write magazine articles. Barry & Enright want him to join them later as a consultant, and NBC is preparing to make him an offer as a performer. Says Charlie: "Everybody in the world knows what I should do except me. Before last November, I knew I wanted to teach...
...bees make no immediate decision, but the scouts continue to dance their reports after the swarm has separated and is hanging on a bush. Some favor a hollow tree 300 yards away; others have found a cranny under a barn floor. Often there are many factions, each dancing in a different direction. The debate may continue for several days...
...When a swarm of bees separates from an established colony, it does not go at once to a new home. Most swarms settle on a bush or tree, and form themselves into buzzing balls with the queen in the center. After hours or days of debating, the swarm makes up its collective mind and flies to a suitable cranny...
While each dancing faction is still pushing its own choice, the swarm makes no move. Then one by one the factions dwindle, as scouts become converted to rival points of view. Finally all the scouts are boosting the same site. Only then does the swarm take wing and permit itself to be led to its new home...
...Lindauer. is almost always effective, and generally the choice of the winning faction is the best available site. Once in a while, however, the demo cratic process fails an unlucky colony. In one tragic case, the factions debated for 14 days and reached no decision. At last the swarm built its nest in the open, and perished during the winter...