When a bee finds a great patch of flowers, it flies home and tells the hive where to go. But it does not speak. It dances.
01
The waggle dance
The bee does a little wiggle in a figure-eight. The angle of the wiggle points to the flowers. The longer the wiggle, the farther away the snack.
Bees share maps by dancing.
02
Smell and sound too
Other bees gather around, sniffing the dancer for the smell of the flowers and feeling the buzz of her wings. Multi-sensor message.
03
Why it matters
Whole hives stay fed because one bee can share a map without a single word. Teamwork, tiny version.
Quick wins
Take these with you
- 1Bees share maps by dancing.
- 2The angle and length of the dance tells the where and the how far.
- 3Bees are champion team players.
MH
Written by
Mira Halsen
Loves a good explainer.