Scientists have decoded the dances that bees use to tell each other where to find food…
…with radar…
…after attaching transponders to individual bees!
From the article:
After finding food, scout bees returning to the hive dance on the vertical walls of the honeycomb. A round dance indicates the food is very close, within 35 yards or less. A figure-eight pattern indicates that the food is farther away. The bee indicates the distance to the food by how long it dances; it indicates the food’s richness by how vigorously it dances; and it indicates the food’s direction by the angle the dance deviates from an imaginary line drawn from the current position of the sun to the dance floor.
Wired News: Decoding Bees’ Wild Waggle Dances
Too cool!
