Let's start the week with some light-hearted bee-related educational entertainment.
Don't know about you, but every time I learn something new about how bees and nature interact, I’m a bit awestruck and feel immense reverence for the intelligence of nature, and bees in particular.
Bees have developed a complex series of movements to let their sisters in the bee colony know where to find nectar and pollen-rich flowers to forage even as far away from the hive as 6 kilometers.
The way a bee “talks” is by doing the famous “waggle dance.” She shakes her abdomen, which along with the angle on the comb she waggles at, gives highly accurate directions based on the location of the sun, about where to find the new nectar and pollen laden flowers. Waggle dances tend to be in the shape of a figure 8, and the length of time it lasts gives an idea of distance.
We’re including a short video here (less than 3 minutes long) so you can see the waggle dance in action.
Here is a video, less than 3 minutes long, of The Amazing Waggle Dance:
Worker bees from one hive will visit around 500 million flowers in one season and make up to 90 kilos or 200 pounds of honey so the colony can survive all winter.
This next video is a bit longer, around 7 minutes, and shows a tighter, more intense version of the waggle dance. It goes over other fascinating facts about bees and why we need them as well, so it is well worth watching if you have a few extra minutes.
Have you seen bees do the waggle dance? Please share your insights!