Honey Bee Dance
There are two major theories on how honey bee foragers communicate
with other workers about a new food source: the honey bee dance and the
odor plume. Although there is evidence to support each claim, the honey
bee dance is more widely accepted. The dance language combines dancing
and odor as a bee’s means of communication, while the odor plume theory
claims that honey bee recruitment relies solely on floral odor. The honey
bee dance plays an important role in the survival of the species: it has been
a part of colonies for years and has remained one of the most important
methods used in foraging for food.
The honey bee dance is a way for bees to communicate with one another.
A honey bee that discovers a new food source will tell other honey bees
about its location through the honey bee dance. When a worker bee returns
from an abundant food source, she will dance inside their nest in a circle.
There are two main types of honey bee dances: round dance and waggle
dance. Round dance, as the name indicates, is a movement in a circle. This
is used to indicate the food source is less than 50 meters from the nest.
Waggle dance is a figure eight pattern while the bee waggles its abdomen
and is used for food located at a distance of more than 150 meters. Exact
distance can be communicated by duration of the dance. A longer dance
indicates a great distance.
The dancing worker bee also can indicate direction with the waggle dance
and will move in reference to the sun’s vertical position. The degrees to the
right or left of the vertical indicate the direction of the food. For example,
if the bee’s dance is rotated 30 degrees to the vertical then the food will be
found at a 30 degree angle from the nest related to the sun’s vertical.
This language is also understandable by humans, and researchers
determine effectiveness by measuring the amount and quality of new
pollen and nectar brought into the nest. However, certain features of this
dance language, including the fact that honey bees understand dance
patterns even in the dark, are still not understood.