Comment

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.

source

Sort:hotnew top

lvxferre@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ 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”.
source