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how can they see each other dance? I assume it’s because they’re experiencing the dance some other way, but how? (Also it’s hella dark in there, isn’t it?)

By touch. This 50s video shows it well.

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stray@pawb.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
Oh, I see. I thought they communicated much more complex information than that, but it’s very practical for simple directions with no further details.

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- lvxferre@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
  Yup - as far as we know the dance conveys three pieces of info, about a food source:
  
  direction - by the direction of the waggling
  
  distance - by the duration of the waggling
  
  benefit - by how frequently they do it (based on the resources and potential predators)
  
  They also release some pheromones while dancing, but I think that’s just to warn other bees “hey, someone is dancing in the hive”.
  
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