When honey bees find a rewarding patch of flowers, they can communicate its direction and distance to nestmates through the waggle dance. University of Sussex researchers decode these movements to study where the bees search for food. [1]
The angle of the dancing run from vertical corresponds to the angle of the outdoor route from the Sun. For example, a run directed upwards indicates a resource towards the Sun: a celestial reference translated onto the comb. [2]
Take this with youAn exercise from our editors: try indicating a direction without speaking. Then give the bees this advantage: their team meeting already includes dancing.
Read the sources (2)
- Decoding waggle dances to determine where honey bees forage University of Sussex · Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects · accessed 13 Sept 2026
- Bee Waggle Dance — Introduction Arizona State University · Ask A Biologist · accessed 13 Sept 2026
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