Book 1, Question 32
Why Do Bees Dance? The Waggle Dance Explained!
Bees can share directions with a dance! When a scout bee finds flowers, she returns to the hive and dances a figure eight. The straight middle part, called the waggle run, shows the direction of the flowers compared with the sun. The page says a bee's dance can describe food more than a kilometer away. Point one arm at a tree and the other at the sun to see how the angle between them helps you understand the dance.
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 1
More fun facts
- A scientist named Karl von Frisch figured out what the waggle dance means many years ago.
- The waggle dance is only one part of how honeybees talk to each other.
- Bees also have a stop signal. It is a quick buzz that lasts about 150 milliseconds, at a pitch close to the musical note G.
- Bees aim their stop signals at waggle dancers. Sometimes they climb on top of the dancer or give a friendly headbutt first.
- When scientists played stop signals through speakers, dancers stopped waggling.
- In one experiment, bees attacked at a food spot made about 43 times more stop signals back at the hive and sent fewer sisters to that dangerous spot.
Sources: National Geographic
Questions kids ask
Who discovered what the waggle dance means?
A scientist named Karl von Frisch translated the waggle dance many years ago.
Can bees tell others not to go somewhere?
Yes. Bees use a short buzz called a stop signal to tell dancers to stop, especially when a food spot is dangerous.