Reading the waggle dance

[Anthony Appleyard]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waggle_dance :: How often has a beekeeper been able to watch a bee performing the waggle dance, and from it to find where and how far is whatever the bee has found? The bees do so routinely; but how often does a human translate the message in the waggle dance?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

How often do you interpret your bees' waggle dance.
Share your findings with us please

 

[drex]

The bees often watch me having a cup of tea by the hives, after an inspection. I wonder how often they have a brew up.

 

[Finman]

Bees waggle in the lowest box, where foragers arrive. I do not want to disturb the whole big hive and look their waggling. I try to close the hive as soon as possible.

 

[MikeWade]

I enjoyed watching scouts waggle dancing on a swarm the other day. Was going to video it but i was balancing precariously across a ditch. Was interesting to watch which way they were advertising locations. Especially as I watched Tom Seeley's honey bee democracy video the week before. It was nice to witness it in action.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Not just waggling but trembling and shaking.
The first time I ever saw a bee doing the shaking dance I thought there was something wrong with her.... fascinating stuff, the way bees communicate not only amount and distance of forage but whether the colony actually needs it and how much.

 

[understanding_bees]

How often do you interpret your bees' waggle dance.
Share your findings with us please

How often? Well, there has to be a first time for everything (or so they say).
I have seen videos of how bees waggle while moving in a straight line to indicate the direction in which the goodies are to be found. According to the information I had read, the waggling bee then loops around to repeat the waggle over the same portion of the comb. In addition, the information which I had seen / read suggested that the bees use a "figure 8" pattern as they trace out the path of the dance. I think that everyone reading this will know what I mean.
I have explained the above to emphasize that this is NOT what I saw today. The waggling bee made just a few vibrations (maybe 5) as it walked about 2cm across the comb. It then continued in that same straight line for about 3 more centimetres, and waggled 5 vibrations over the next 2cm, and continued in this manner along the same straight line without turning to the right or the left, doing the waggle at least four times as I watched.
I found myself wondering whether this means that the "goodies" were very close to the hive, or whether there is some other kind of explanation.

 

[understanding_bees]

Not just waggling but trembling and shaking.
The first time I ever saw a bee doing the shaking dance I thought there was something wrong with her.... fascinating stuff, the way bees communicate not only amount and distance of forage but whether the colony actually needs it and how much.

Just seeing your reference to bees trembling and shaking makes me think that I should qualify my comment of a few moments ago. Perhaps it depends on our definition of the kind of movement that the bee was making. What is the difference between trembling, shaking and waggling? Perhaps the bees' dance language is a lot more sophisticated than I had imagined.

 

[gmonag]

Tom Seeley has written about all the different waggles, shakes, head-butts etc. that the bees perform. I don't have a reference though. Anyone?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Tom Seeley has written about all the different waggles, shakes, head-butts etc. that the bees perform. I don't have a reference though. Anyone?

There’s probably a lecture on it somewhere. Maybe the National honey show you tube channel? I certainly saw him deliver one.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Here’s a couple but not Tom Seeley

 

[beeno]

Not just waggling but trembling and shaking.
The first time I ever saw a bee doing the shaking dance I thought there was something wrong with her.... fascinating stuff, the way bees communicate not only amount and distance of forage but whether the colony actually needs it and how much.

The waggle dance only communicates direction and distance.

 

[beeno]

Waggle dance - Wikipedia :: How often has a beekeeper been able to watch a bee performing the waggle dance, and from it to find where and how far is whatever the bee has found? The bees do so routinely; but how often does a human translate the message in the waggle dance?

I think it is something one means to do...

 

[Erichalfbee]

The waggle dance only communicates direction and distance.

Yes
I mentioned other dances which don’t

 

[drex]

The waggle dance only communicates direction and distance.

I believe the vigour of the dance also indicates how rich the source is

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I believe the vigour of the dance also indicates how rich the source is

and also the dancer will pass 'samples' of the nectar to the audience to tell them what to expect.

 

[gmonag]

Here’s a couple but not Tom Seeley

From memory, the first video shows the "shake" where a scout wakes up dormant foragers to tell them to go and start foraging. The second, the head butt and whoop, is the opposite - hives bees are telling a dancer to "stop, we have enough already".

 

[beeno]

I believe the vigour of the dance also indicates how rich the source is

I think that has been discontinued as the bees get tired in the afternoons.

 

[Antipodes]

Tom.....

 

[Erichalfbee]

That’s an early one.
@jenkinsbrynmair
Emyr. You’ll remember. Tom delivered that lecture about the other dances at the WBKA centenary bash in Aber.