I was fascinated by the description of social insect societies in beehives, but alarmed by Francis Ratnieks's attempt to extend the conclusions to human society (15 January, p 42).

No doubt he is correct that among honeybees "good policing acts as a deterrent" and leads to the lowest levels of cheating by individuals. And he might even be right that a similar social structure - a police state - would lead to the lowest possible levels of crime for a human society, preventing, as he says, "individuals from disrupting the society as a whole".

But humans, unlike bees, have other goals, such as freedom and happiness, and sometimes it is good when individuals disrupt society - Gandhi being an obvious example. Let's not forget these concerns as we consider ways to decrease crime. Our modern obsession with being "tough on crime" often ignores the negative side effects of the consequent policies. We do not want, after all, to model ourselves upon honeybees, do we?

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