Bees: Dancing for Their Dinner

When you think about how animals communicate do you think of a barking, meowing, or quacking? How about roaring, squawking, or purring? That’s what most people think of…but have you ever thought of a dance?

Bees depend on their dancing skills to communicate to other bees where they’ve found food. If a bee wants to tell his friends where food is, he angles his body so it points in the direction of the food, and then dances around in a circle or a figure-eight pattern. Usually a dance in a circle means that food is within one hundred yards, and a “figure-eight” dance means that food is within a few miles away. Can you imagine if you had to depend on your friends dancing skills just to find your next meal?

But why don’t bees just “buzz” or make some other noise to tell their bee friends where food is? Wouldn’t that be a lot easier than dancing around? Well, bees are basically deaf, so making noise won’t really help them communicate anything because other bees won’t be able to hear it. It makes more sense for bees to do a “bee boogie” to point out food.

So, next time you see a bee outside, don’t start to run away; watch to see if he’s doing a little dance…he could just be trying show his friends their next meal!