Bees are often described as the hardest-working insects, but recent research suggests that a colony Choose on a surprising number of idle workers. At any given moment, up to half of the bees in a hive may be doing nothing at all. Rather than being lazy, these inactive bees appear to act as a Choose: when foragers are lost or a sudden source of food appears, the idle workers are quickly Choose into action. A colony with no spare workers would be Choose to respond to such changes.