by Dance of the Bees — a term used in beekeeping and ethology to describe one of the ways bees communicate through a specific set of movements that may seem chaotic to humans.
By performing this dance, bees that have found nectar communicate information to other members of the hive about the direction of the food source, the distance to it, and the amount of pollen and nectar in it. These insects can also threaten other hives if they try to encroach on their territory.
The first scientific study of the bee dance was initiated by the Austrian ethologist Karl von Frisch.
The Meaning of Dance for Bees
The dance serves as a kind of compass for insects. In the spring and summer, scouts look for a source of nectar and pollen, and when they find it, they return to the hive and pass on the information to the foragers.
The signaling individual shows the direction relative to the sun with its dance:
- wagging movements upwards mean that you need to fly towards the sun;
- when moving in a straight line – fly away from the sun;
- If you deviate to the right or left, you need to make the appropriate correction in flight.
Thanks to this system, bees collect nectar and pollen from a specific honey plant. The reference point is its aroma. This allows you to get a specific type of honey that corresponds to the plant – acacia, linden, heather, etc.
The mechanism of such communication is partly connected with vibrations. The body of the insect vibrates due to the contraction of powerful wing muscles, but unlike in flight, the wings are folded during the dance.
The vibration of the signaling bee spreads over the entire surface of the honeycomb, so it is also perceived by other individuals. The signal is perceived only by insects located within the same hive.
Many scientists had doubts about the possibility of communication between insects with tiny brains. This communication mechanism was confirmed thanks to a small robot that reproduced all the nuances of the dance in detail. At its signal, the bees had to fly to specially organized feeders – the experiment was a complete success.
Circle dance
In this type of dance, the bee makes circular movements. In this way, it signals to its relatives that a rich source of nectar and pollen is located near the hive – within a radius of about 45 m.
In a circle dance, the signaling bee does not indicate the direction in which to move to the area it has found.
The foragers attracted by the scout surround her and move after her. The direction is indicated to them by the scent of flowers remaining on the abdomen of the insect that has found the honey plant. Its perception is ensured by the bee’s antennae.
The scouts’ circular dance lasts only a few seconds, but it is enough to attract other worker bees and convey the necessary information to them.
The bee begins to dance after it has given away the nectar it has collected – it also releases it during the dance. Having finished dancing, the insect immediately heads to the entrance, and from there to the flowers it has found. When the bee brings food again, it will start dancing again. This confirms that it has found a rich source of nutrition.
During the circle dance, nearby individuals repeat the movements of the scout, trying to touch her abdomen with their antennae. After that, these honey bees begin to prepare for flight – they clean themselves and head for the entrance.
The Wagging Dance
The movements during this dance resemble a figure eight and are semicircular. The bee runs straight and wags its abdomen. The number of its flaps determines the proximity of the found honey plant.
The more the insect wags its abdomen, the closer the food source is. 8 wiggles per second means that the honey plant is 6 km away from the hive. If the bee makes 20 movements per second, then the food source is about a kilometer away.
Bees resort to the waggle dance when honey plants are at a great distance. It is determined by the number of not only the flaps of the abdomen, but also the circles made.
If the honey plant is located approximately 100 m from the hive, the bee will make approximately 10 circles in 15 seconds. If it makes 7 circles in the same time, the distance is twice as long, 4 circles – 1 km, 2 circles – 6 km.
Scout bees can distort data on the distance to the honey plant. This depends on weather conditions. When there is a headwind, the bee’s movement slows down, and when there is a tailwind, it speeds up, so some errors may be present.
With its waggle dance, a bee can not only tell how far away the honey plant it has found is, but also indicate the direction in which to fly.
If the insect dances on the flight hole (horizontally), then the line of connection of the figure eight is the direction to the honey plant. A certain distance is made between the semicircles of the figure eight – it corresponds to the angle of deviation of the flight relative to the sun.
Dance in the Hive
The circle and waggle dances are effective and informative when the weather is clear and the sky is clean. In the dark, bees cannot see, but they perceive certain information through smell and touch.
The scout can indicate the direction in which the honey plant is located as follows:
- straight-line movement down the honeycomb – food source on the side opposite the sun;
- upward movement – the honey plant is located towards the sun.
With their dance, bees can only show the distance to a honey plant and the direction to it. Insects cannot indicate the height of food. This was confirmed by experiments with high-hanging feeders.
Bee perception of space
Bees have compound eyes, represented by ommatidia (structural elements). This feature provides mosaic vision – the insect sees not the whole picture, but each object separately.
Bees have light-refracting eyes, so clear weather is necessary for normal orientation. Polaroids help the insect navigate even without the sun, but at least a small gap is needed, otherwise the bee may deviate from the correct direction.
Dancing is a way for bees to communicate. By making certain movements, insects can tell their hive how far away and in what direction the honey plant is. The sun is a reference point for the bee, so it moves actively only in clear weather.
How do bees determine direction in the dark?
In the dark, bees have to use their sense of smell and touch, as well as a set of conventional gestures. For example, if a bee lowers its head and runs in a straight line across the honeycomb, the bees know that they need to move away from the sun.
If it has been raised, then it is necessary to move towards the sun. The bees quickly understand this and are ready to move in the necessary direction for nectar.
Who discovered dance?
It all started back in 1923. A German beekeeper, Frisch, was the first to discover bee language, which consists of circular movements, complex and intricate. Such movements were simply called “dance”. The dance of bees regulates all field work of ordinary individuals.
Conclusions
The dance of bees may seem like something ordinary to an inexperienced beekeeper, but in fact it is of crucial importance for bees, because without it they simply would not be able to exchange such important information. With the help of simple movements, the insect manages to transmit a fairly large amount of information – and, as a result, the collection of nectar and pollen occurs with maximum efficiency.
