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Communication

Communication

Communication between two animals occurs when one animal transmits an information signal that causes a change in the animal that receives the information. Organisms communicate with one another in a host of different ways. Signals can be auditory, chemical, visual, tactile, or a combination of these. Communication is a critical behavioral adaptation that promotes survival, growth, and reproduction.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 11, 2026

Tactile Conditioning And Movement Analysis Of Antennal Sampling Strategies In Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.)

Tactile Conditioning And Movement Analysis Of Antennal Sampling Strategies In Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.)

Published on: December 12, 2012

Honeybee dances communicate distances measured by optic flow.

H E Esch¹, S Zhang, M V Srinivasan

¹Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA. harald.e.esch.1@nd.edu

|June 1, 2001

Summary

Honeybee foragers use dances to guide hive mates to food. Their distance perception is skewed by tunnel environments, but recruits still search in the correct direction.

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Area of Science:

Animal Behavior
Sensory Ecology
Insect Communication

Background:

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) use waggle dances to communicate food source location.
Foragers' perception of distance is influenced by visual cues during flight.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how honeybees interpret waggle dances when foragers experience altered visual flow in confined spaces.
To determine if recruited bees can accurately navigate to food sources based on dances from foragers that encountered tunnel environments.

Main Methods:

Honeybee foragers were trained to collect food in a narrow tunnel.
The waggle dances of these foragers were recorded and analyzed.
Recruited bees' search behavior was observed in response to these dances.

Main Results:

Recruited bees searched for food at exaggerated distances and outside the tunnel, not inside.
Honeybee dances convey directional information and total image motion, not absolute distance.
Perceived distances varied significantly based on different outdoor flight paths.

Conclusions:

Honeybee waggle dances do not encode absolute distance but rather relative distance based on image flow.
Navigational accuracy is maintained because recruits and dancers share the same directional information.
Environmental factors, such as tunnel confinement, can alter perceived distance in honeybee communication.