HOW DOES HONEY BEES COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER... THE FASINATING TYPES OF DANCES SEEN IN HONEY BEES

1. Dance LanguageOf
HoneyBees
DR. NIRBHAY SUDHIR PIMPLE
DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY
ABASAHEB GARWARE COLLEGE, KARVE ROAD.
PUNE-4

2. Discovery -
• Karl von Frisch, 1886-1982
• Austrian, began work in 1919
• Trained European honey bees,
Apis mellifera, to feeders
• First believed bees used flower
scents or other odors to find
food sources
• Began to pay close attention
to dances performed by
returning foragers
– Dances very precise, with
varying tempo and direction

3. Karl von Frisch described the dances
1. “Round dance”
• When food source is < 50 m from
hive
• After distributing some of her new-
found nectar to waiting bees the
scout will begin running in a small
circle, switching direction.
• After the dance ends food is again
distributed at this or some other
place on the comb and the dance
may be repeated three or (rarely)
more times.
• The round dance does not give
directional information.

4. 2. “Waggle dance”
When food source is
> 50 meters away
Waggle run
- Abdomen wagging and
wing fluttering
-Angle repeated with
respect to vertical, or
gravity (here 20° right)

5. By moving feeder to different
angles and locations -
•Number of waggles per run
correlates with distance to
food source (more= farther)
•Dance “tempo” (slower=
farther)
•The duration of the dance
(longer= better food)
Other bees follow the dancer
(“audience”)
SCOUT: finds new food
sources & dances
RECRUITS: follow dances &
then forage

6. Direction of the food source is
indicated by the direction the
dancer faces during the
Straight portion of the dance
when the bee is waggling. If
she waggles while facing
straight upward, than the food
source may be found in the
direction of the sun.

7. If she waggles at
an angle 60 degrees
to the left of
upward the food
source may be
found 60 degrees
to the left of the
sun.

8. If the dancer waggles 120
degrees to the right of
upward, the food source
may be found 210 degrees
to the right of the sun.
The dancer emits sounds
during the waggle run that
help the recruits
determine direction in the
darkness of the hive.

9. Waggle dance says…
1) DIRECTION:
- Angle of waggle run
2) DISTANCE:
- Number of waggles per run
- Dance tempo (# of circuits per unit time)
3) QUALITY:
- The duration of the dance (total waggle runs)
4) TASTE AND SMELL:
- Dancer gives free samples
*** ROUND DANCE- only for nearby sources, detailed info not
provided

10. THANK YOU