The Bee Dance

Ever seen a bee wiggling in the air and wondered what was happening? Well, many bees do so in order to communicate food locations to other bees. According to a recent study done by the University of California San Diego, the way a message is sent does not solely depend on location, but also the size of the audience watching.

Bees who deliver messages about food locations to other bees change how specific their directions to the location are based on how many bees are watching their dance. As more bees follow along to watch the dance, the dancing bee will carry out rapid movements of its abdomen while gliding forward. These dance moves are relative to the sun and point the other bees in the right direction.

In contrast, when the bee audience is small, the dancing bee needs to gather more bees while simultaneously performing these movements, making the directions less clear. With this research, it is possible that bees may have similar ways of thinking as humans. Like bees, it is an instinct for humans to adjust our efforts in performances depending how they are being received. Often, when performers know the audience is large, they carry out their efforts to a higher standard. This can directly be seen in the behaviors of bees–the bigger the audience, the bigger the performance. Additionally, like humans, bees divide their attention depending on how many eyes the message needs to meet. As a dancer myself, whether the audience is big or small, dance can be used to communicate messages while concurrently carrying out complex movements, just like the bees are doing!

So, if you are ever wondering why bees are wiggling in the air, just know there is a lot of choreography behind their little dance show!