When I worked in Yucatan, I got fascinated with the physical differences between our cultures in how people give directions. To say that the path takes you a long away, point with your hand and swing forward in an arc that extends all the way to the top of your head. Turn right is indicated by extending your right hand, palm out, and pat the air twice.
I asked for directions A LOT when I was in Yucatan, and managed to get pretty good at reading what people were telling me through their body language (even when that message was "I have no idea, but I don't want to appear rude by saying so). And I loved learning the unspoken communication.
So it has been equally fascinating for me to read the literature about honeybee communications. In 1967, Karl von Frisch translated the waggle dance for the first time*. The waggle dance, he explained, describes direction and distance. Scout bees looking for a new home to swarm to, come back and do a waggle dance, telling everyone about the place they have found. Same for bees looking for a source of pollen and nectar.
The dance is a three-step solo dance, with repeats. The worker bee comes in after having found a lovely field of flowering plants, and she begins her version of the Dance of the Seven Veils.
Wiggle wiggle wiggle. Then loop around to the right. Wiggle wiggle wiggle. Then loop to the left. Wiggle wiggle wiggle.
The fact that von Frisch figured it out is really cool. The angle of the dance (wiggle wiggle wiggle) corresponds to the angle from the sun of the flowers she recommends. If she does her dance on a perfect vertical, it means the flowers are directly in line with the sun. If her dance is done at a 35 degree angle, it is 35 degrees away from the sun.
And the longer she dances - the more loops she makes - the further away it is.
As soon as she finishes, other bees will make a beeline for the flowers, and her directions will take them right to the location. (Much more effectively than the hand-waving that the Yucatecans did for me). I have been reading about both decisionmaking and communications among the bees, and I am excited to see it in action.
Tonight, I will be working with the bees, making sure they have enough space, and that the beetles are not taking over the hive. I am so psyched to be able to watch them as they do their own work; how much honey and pollen they have accumulated; how many more eggs the queen has laid, how much more comb has been drawn.
And I'll be doing my own waggle dance while I do. Wiggle wiggle wiggle.
Sting Count: 0
* Frisch, Karl von. (1967) The Dance Language and Orientation of Bees. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
I asked for directions A LOT when I was in Yucatan, and managed to get pretty good at reading what people were telling me through their body language (even when that message was "I have no idea, but I don't want to appear rude by saying so). And I loved learning the unspoken communication.
So it has been equally fascinating for me to read the literature about honeybee communications. In 1967, Karl von Frisch translated the waggle dance for the first time*. The waggle dance, he explained, describes direction and distance. Scout bees looking for a new home to swarm to, come back and do a waggle dance, telling everyone about the place they have found. Same for bees looking for a source of pollen and nectar.
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| My rendering of the waggle dance. |
Wiggle wiggle wiggle. Then loop around to the right. Wiggle wiggle wiggle. Then loop to the left. Wiggle wiggle wiggle.
The fact that von Frisch figured it out is really cool. The angle of the dance (wiggle wiggle wiggle) corresponds to the angle from the sun of the flowers she recommends. If she does her dance on a perfect vertical, it means the flowers are directly in line with the sun. If her dance is done at a 35 degree angle, it is 35 degrees away from the sun.
And the longer she dances - the more loops she makes - the further away it is.
As soon as she finishes, other bees will make a beeline for the flowers, and her directions will take them right to the location. (Much more effectively than the hand-waving that the Yucatecans did for me). I have been reading about both decisionmaking and communications among the bees, and I am excited to see it in action.
Tonight, I will be working with the bees, making sure they have enough space, and that the beetles are not taking over the hive. I am so psyched to be able to watch them as they do their own work; how much honey and pollen they have accumulated; how many more eggs the queen has laid, how much more comb has been drawn.
And I'll be doing my own waggle dance while I do. Wiggle wiggle wiggle.
Sting Count: 0
* Frisch, Karl von. (1967) The Dance Language and Orientation of Bees. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
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