answersLogoWhite

0

Bee communication is very complex and even now not fully understood. Bees communicate by two methods: chemical and physical.
The chemical method -- pheromones -- are the most complex. Bees emit a number of different pheromones for different purposes, probably more than we know about. Examples include:

  • A pheromone emitted by the queen assures the rest of the hive that all is well.
  • There is a pheromone in bee venom called the 'alarm pheromone'. This attracts other bees to the sting site, ready to sting.
  • Bees at the entrance of a hive or in a swarm can emit a pheromone from a gland in the abdomen which attracts other bees to them -- a 'come to me' message.
The best example of the physical communication is the 'waggle dance'. When a bee returns to a hive after finding a new source of nectar she (all workers are female) will go on to the frame then walk in a 'figure of eight' path. As she passes through the centre she will pause and waggle her abdomen, then repeat the process. She also will offer surrounding bees a sample of the nectar. As she waggles her abdomen, the direction she is facing relative to the top of the hive (remember the comb is vertical) gives the angle of the flowers relative to the sun at that moment, and the duration of the waggle is proportional to the distance from the hive. The sample of nectar also tells the bees what type of flowers.
User Avatar

Wiki User

15y ago

What else can I help you with?