Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution => Topic started by: neilep on 22/05/2024 19:24:19
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Dearest Beekeepers and Bee-ologists,
As a sheepy I of course know everything there is to know about Bees. I know this because they are the second letter of the alphabet.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczOEgUXLyeogmFzEpiCeyWVJaAZyza1nUbagbilXZtpBOsFDWm3YrRJ8klM8AgWVl_fXS0L5i3uE6wLt3DVSaIQUdbdDD6cPe7yOH01yQlZX6HPWNFs5=w2400)
B-Sharp telling B-Minor where the nosh it just moments ago.
Bees get their nosh by telling each other where it is. Take a look at the above photo for the proof.
So, when the nosh has all gone, how do they let the others know ? does it just get lost in new messages of new food locales ? Last thing you want is traffic jam on one petal !!
So, whajafink ? do they somehow cancel the locale or not ?
Thank ewe for BEEing so kind.
Sheepy
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They have to start somewhere, so the first job is to scout around for food. If you find some, you tell your chums where it is so they save energy by literally making a bee line to it.
Whilst the food is worth collecting, each returning bee then repeats the location. This is necessary because they navigate by the sun, so the coordinates change as the day progresses.
If a bee judges the source to be exhausted, she won't repeat the location but will scout for another source and the process starts again.
Apart from the moving coordinates, bee navigation is very similar to aircraft traffic control. Bees fly out of the hive to a fixed marker "beacon" then set off scouting or collecting as instructed. On returning, they fly to the beacon then wait for ordered approach and debrief instructions from a couple of controllers at the hive entrance. Final approach appears to be "instrument" rather than "visual" which is why you shouldn't move a hive when they are working - they can't find their way back from the beacon if the door moved more than a meter or so since they left the hive!
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When bees find that a food source is empty, they don't have a specific signal to tell others directly. Instead, they stop performing the "waggle dance" for that location. The waggle dance is a behavior used by forager bees to communicate the location of food sources to other bees in the hive. When a food source is depleted, the bees simply stop dancing for that location, and as a result, other bees won't be directed there anymore. They shift their focus to other locations where food is still available.
I recently read an interesting article about plants that don't attract bees. This might be helpful if you're trying to avoid a "traffic jam on one petal" in your garden or near your home. The article discussed various plants that are less likely to attract bees, such as marigolds, ferns, and some types of ornamental grasses. Planting these can help reduce bee traffic in certain areas, which might be useful if you're managing space where bees are foraging. If you're interested in learning more about this, check out https://www.mklibrary.com/plants-that-dont-attract-bees/