We have always known that honeybees are among the most intelligent creatures on the planet. They live in amity with each other, work hard and train for a variety of occupations during their lifetime. New research is revealing them to be excellent communicators as well. Bees “talk” to each other by emitting and receiving vibrations.
According to Dr. Martin Benscik of Nottingham Trent University, honeybees vibrate their wing muscles to produce unique frequencies. These frequencies are understood by other bees as words or phrases, just as humans use voice to communicate words and thoughts.
Among the first words in Benscik’s new bee dictionary are “whoops” (sounded by a bee on the receiving end of a bump), “quack” (sounded by a queen waiting to be hatched), and “toot” (sounded by worker bees to announce the hatching of the new queen).
Though vibrational research, also known as biotremology, is in its infancy, it is already dispelling some long-held beliefs about honeybee behavior and revealing the intricate, harmonious nature of Mother Earth.
Whoop, Quack and Toot
The “whoop” signal is an expression of good manners among honeybees. Though they live in cramped quarters, with upwards of 60,000 bees per hive, these insects are remarkably adept at maintaining personal space while conducting business. But accidents do happen, and bees collide on occasion. They are courteous creatures, though. When one bee bumps into another, the receiver will often gently “whoop” to let the offender know she has bumped into her. “Hey there, Sissy, just letting you know I am right behind you.”
The “quack” and “toot” signals are dismissing the previous belief that a queen hatches out of her cell, then roams the hive to kill other potential queens so she becomes the sole Queen Bee. Come to find out, bees are far more civil than that. I know, right. Quack and toot are communications that enable the entire society to work together to release one queen at a time.
“Quack” is the signal made by an unborn queen in her cell waiting to be hatched. The quack, quack, quack sound lets nurse bees know she desires to be released. She is asking them to chew a hole in the cell wall so she can be released.
The “toot” is used by worker bees to announce the presence of the new Queen Bee. It instructs nurse bees to hold captive other unhatched queens, so there is just one queen in the colony. When the “tooting” ceases, this signals the new virgin queen has left the colony on her mating flight. She will be gone for several days, so it is safe to hatch the other would-be queens.
Dr. Benscik has done other research on bee behavior too, discovering that older, experienced bees drum on honeycomb to wake up younger bees to prompt them to get working. By rapidly beating their abdomen on the comb, they are cracking the whip, so to speak, letting the slackers know it is time to start foraging or get busy.
The waggle dance is performed as a sideways figure eight, with the dancer waggling her abdomen during the straight run of the movement.
The Waggle Dance
Honeybees also communicate with each other through special dances called round dances and waggle dances. Performed by forage bees returning from the field, these dances let other bees know the exact location of a source of pollen, nectar, tree resin (propolis) or water. After watching the dance, foragers can find the location with pinpoint accuracy, often miles away from the hive. Movements of the dance are like a GPS, indicating direction, distance, quality, and quantity of the food source.
The dance occurs on a special stage located near the hive entrance. Arriving back at the hive, a bee with news to share immediately proceeds to the dance floor, where other bees gather around her to hear her news. If the food source is of excellent quality, bees will dance enthusiastically and at length to recruit many new foragers. If the source is low quality, the dance will be shorter and less vigorous. Foragers offer their sisters a taste of their goodies to motivate them to act and let them know what they will find by doing so.
The round dance communicates the food source is near the hive (within 80 yards). In this simple dance, the bee walks in a circle, then turns around and walks in the same circle in the opposite direction. She repeats this several times.
The waggle dance, or the wag-tail dance, communicates the food source is at a greater distance. The dancer walks forward in a straight line, quickly swinging her abdomen side-to-side in a waggle movement. She stops the waggle, then circles back to the starting point of the dance and repeats the straight-line waggle. At the top, she stops the waggle and circles around in the opposite direction, making a sideways figure-eight pattern as one round.
The distance of the waggle run indicates the distance of the food source, with a longer run indicating longer distance. A dance lasting about one second equates to a food source being 1,100 yards away. A dance lasting four seconds would indicate a food source is about 5,000 yards away (2.8 miles).
The direction the dancer faces when heading into the waggle run indicates the location of the feeding site relative to the hive and the sun. The waggle run will be performed straight up for a food source in the same direction of the sun and straight down for one in the opposite direction. If the food source were 60° to the left of the sun the waggle run would be performed 60° to the left of vertical. Because this is relative to the position of the sun, rather than compass direction, the direction of the waggle run will change over the course of a day to follow the sun. For example, a bee dances straight up in the morning for a food source located due east of the hive (because the sun rises in the east) and straight down in the afternoon (because the sun sets in the west).
Putting It All Together
When distance of the source (length and time of the dance) is combined with direction of the source (angle of the waggle run portion of the dance), bees know where to head to find food and water. When they leave for their journey, forage bees hover around the hive to orient themselves with the surroundings, so they know where to return with their goodies.
Out in the fields, bees also leave a breadcrumb trail of navigation, with odor from their scent glands left on flowers to help guide recruits.
So, the next time you see a honeybee collecting nectar and pollen, keep in mind, this little lady may be miles from home. Pause to appreciate her work and whisper a prayer: may angels fly with you wherever you roam and guide you back safely to family and home.
Waggle dances are performed to indicate forage location from the hive relative to the sun. The waggle run portion of the dance will be performed straight up for a food source in the same direction of the sun and straight down for one in the opposite direction. If the food source were 60° to the left of the sun, the waggle run would be performed 60° to the left of vertical.