If you think that only humans have the
knack for Mathematics, the Honeybees will prove you wrong. Do you know that one
of the channels of communication between Honeybees is through the use of visual
cues? I will show how Honeybees exhibit Mathematical techniques in their visual
communication, the “Waggle dance”.
(Extracted from http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/honeybee.html)
It is no secret that Honeybees have been
the main provider of honey for us through the collection of nectar from flowers.
But how do the bees ensure a consistent and steady flow of nectar to the
beehive with the varying amount of nectar that could be extracted from flowers
with the changing season and climate?
The interesting waggle dance performed by
Honeybees is the main communication means to inform worker bees about the
location of nectar from their beehive. A few scout bees will fly around in
search for food. When it finds a promising site, it will fly back to the
beehive doing the waggle dance to inform about the location.
Click on the bee to find out how it works 
The waggle dance consists of straight
runs, during which the bee waggles its abdomen from side to side, forming wavy
lines followed by semicircular returns to form a figure-8 pattern. The angle
the bee waggles indicates the angle of the food from the sun.
(Extracted from http://neurophilosophy.files.wordpress.com/2006/04/300px-Bee_dance1.png?w=300&h=239)
Besides indicating the direction of nectar
to other fellow bees, the waggle runs also indicates the distance of the
beehive to the source of food. How long the bee goes forward wagging signifies
the distance. Also, as shown in the video above, “depending on how plentiful
the nectar is, the figure-8 pattern may be repeated a few times”. As long as there
is still nectar to be found, the waggle dance continues and the dance will
slowly taper off with the diminishing amount of nectar around that area. After
which, a new scout bee will come back with a more “appealing dance routine”
when it finds a more promising spot for nectar collection.
The unique way of visual communication
amongst the Honeybees is part of their cooperative effort in working to sustain
the inflow of nectar. What is interesting about the mode of communication of
the Honeybee is the parallel of their dance to the mathematical skills we learn
in class. The Honeybee uses vector calculus to inform about the direction of
nectar location, and uses the forward wagging to inform about the distance. For
those people who are bad at direction, the Honeybee beats you hands down!
It is also interesting to note that the
bee’s dance has inspired development of communication system by the Georgia
Institute of Technology to improve Internet servers. For more details click
here!
Such an impressive way of communication
among Honeybees is unique to the bee family. What lies behind what we have
always taken for granted – the collection of nectar – actually engages a
special mechanism which the ingenious bees employ.
References
Georgia Institute
of Technology (2007). Bee Strategy Helps Servers Run More Sweetly. ScienceDaily. Retrieved 19th March 2008
from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071116133551.htm
James L. Gould & William F. Towne.
(1987). Evolution of the Dance
Language. The American Naturalist. 130,
No. 3. pp. 317-338.
The University of Arizona. Honey Bee Dances. Africanized Honey Bee Education Project. Retrieved 19th March 2008 from http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/ahb/inf7.html