The Dance Language of Bees. The dance of the bee is an amazing and perhaps the most complex act of an insect. The

Transcription

1 The Dance Language of Bees The dance of the bee is an amazing and perhaps the most complex act of an insect. The dances are performed by worker bees that have returned to the honeycomb. It essentially is a language that tells the other workers where the food is. The honey bee can carry out six different dances: the round dance, waggle dance, alarm dance, cleaning dance, DVAV (joy) dance and massage dance. [1] Each dance has its own importance in the hive. The dance language was first noted by Ernst Spitzner in [2] He noted that the dances were carried out to communicate the amount of honey flow and location of the flowers. The discovery was forgotten until 1920 when Karl von Frisch, a professor at the University of Munich in Germany, published Uebar die Sprqche der Bienen. [3] Frisch and his students interpreted the meaning of the honey bee dance movements by using glass-walled hives to observe them. [4] Frisch explained two dances: the round dance and the waggle dance. When the bee returns to the hive to tell about its find, it will take short steps and run around in narrow circles on the comb. The bee will change the way it moves first to the right and then it moves to the left. It will make its way back to the entrance and fly again. This excitement causes the other bees to put their antennas toward the dancing bee. They then start leaving searching for nectar. The round dance is done when the nectar source is about 100 yards from the hive. The dance is quick and simple. [5] When the source is further than 100 yards, the bees do the waggle dance. This dance very accurately tells how far and what direction the food can be found. [6] When the bee begins the dance, it makes a narrow half circle. The bee then makes a straight line back where it began. It will then make a half circle in the opposite direction. Then it will repeat this movement. When

2 the bee is running in the straight line, it is doing a waggle motion with its body. While doing the straight part of the dance, the bee is making a series of blips. Adrian M. Wenner, Professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, found that this sound was an important part with distance of the food source. [7] The direction of the dance is also an important part of the action. The line of gravity is related to the position of the sun. If the food source is in the direction of the sun, the straight run part of the dance is run up the comb. If the food source is opposite of the sun, the bee will go down the comb. When the food supply is right or left of the sun, the bee will in angles on the comb. [8] The third dance is the alarm dance. In 1949 it was observed that when bees brought in a sugar solution laced with dinitrocresol, within a few minutes the hive bees and the field bees started doing the alarm dance. [9] The bees started going in spirals or irregular zigzags and shook their abdomens in a sideways motion. The bees stopped flying and responded to the dancers. As the poisons spread, more bees started performing the dance. The highest rate happened for one to two hours, after two to three hours, the hive returns to normal and flight returns. This dance is called the zittertanze and is as a result of disturbances to the hive. [10] Another significant dance that the honey bees perform is the cleaning dance. Dust, hair, and other materials may stimulate this dance. This is performed by a rapid stamping of the legs and a swinging of the body to the side. While doing this, the bee is quickly raising and lowering its body. This dance may be performed at any time of the year. The bee that is closest to the bee performing the dance touches with the antenna and then begins the cleaning. The performer spreads out its mandible; the cleaner touches the thorax under the base of the wings. When the bee feels this touch, it stops the dance. Then the bee will slowly spread its wings, bend its abdomen and curve its body upwards to help the cleaner reach areas that need cleaning. The bee

3 performing works very energetically and precisely. A chewing motion indicates that something else needs to be cleaned. The dancer may also clean its tongue, antennae and body. A good cleaner can perform as many as 26 bees in 25 minutes. [11] A dance found by M. H. Haydak in 1929 is the joy dance. The front legs are put on another body part or another bee. The bee will make five or six shaking movements in its abdomen. There will also be a slight swinging forward and backwards. This act will be performed with many bees in the hive. This is usually done around a sealed queen or when a virgin queen hatches from her cell in a queen-less hive. [12] Finally there is the massage dance which starts when one bee bends its head in a peculiar way. The bees next to it become excited. They use their antennae and front legs, climbing over and under touching with their antennae and front legs. The bee receiving the attention has its mandible open and its tongue out. Then it lets out its second pair legs and rest on its back legs. Then it will clean its tongue. This dance is done in the fall or winter. [13] The amazing honey bee is a small insect yet with a very complicated life. It performs six dances, each with a different meaning and purpose. Maybe that is why honey bees are being classified as a super organism.

4 Endnotes: [1] Graham, Joe M., (ed.) The Hive and the Honey Bee. Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, IL. [2] Tarpy, David R. The Honey Bee Dance Language. April, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. [3] Graham, Joe M., (ed.) The Hive and the Honey Bee. Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, IL. [4] Graham, Joe M., (ed.) The Hive and the Honey Bee. Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, IL. [5] Graham, Joe M., (ed.) The Hive and the Honey Bee. Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, IL. [6] Alcoz, J. 27 January, [7] Graham, Joe M., (ed.) The Hive and the Honey Bee. Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, IL. [8] Graham, Joe M., (ed.) The Hive and the Honey Bee. Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, IL. [9] Graham, Joe M., (ed.) The Hive and the Honey Bee. Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, IL [10] Graham, Joe M., (ed.) The Hive and the Honey Bee. Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, IL [11] Graham, Joe M., (ed.) The Hive and the Honey Bee. Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, IL [12] Graham, Joe M., (ed.) The Hive and the Honey Bee. Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, IL [13] Graham, Joe M., (ed.) The Hive and the Honey Bee. Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, IL

5 Additional References: The Dance Language of the Honey Bee. 27 Jan Dornhaus, Anna & Lars Chittka. Why Do Honey Bees Dance? 27 Jan Kirchner, Wolfgang H. & William F. Towne. The Sensory Basis of the Honeybee s Dance Language. 27 Jan Wikipedia. Bee Learning and Communication. 27 Jan

6 Submitted by: Jared N. Wade November 28, 1992 Male 5117 Chickasaw Rd. Colbert, OK Member: Achille/Yuba 4-H

7 The Dance Language of Bees Jared N. Wade January 29, 2009