Elementary Classroom Presentations:

Buzzing Helps Pollination

Buzzing helps in the pollination of flowers. When a bee collects pollen and then buzzes into the air, it spreads the grains. The transfer of pollen between flowers of the same species leads to fertilization, and seed and fruit production for plants. You can learn more about pollination below.

Buzzing Intensifies to Warn of Danger

When a bee is excited, its wings beat rapidly and this alerts the hive to danger from a predator or of a conflict within the hive colony. You can also learn about other communication methods below.

Piping Before a Swarm

Piping is a high pitched buzzing sound which is made by the bees before swarming. Swarming is how honeybee colonies reproduce to form new colonies. This is necessary when the colony outgrows its home, becomes too congested, or too populated for the queen's pheromones to control the hive. 

Honeybees use dance and pheromones to communi­cate important information to one another! 

Dances:

     Round dance - The round dance is used by worker bees to communicate the location of food sources ­that are close by. After dropping off collected food, the worker bee runs in small circles on the comb, changing direction often, circling left and right. After dancing, the worker bee quickly flies back out of the hive, taking new foraging recruits with her to find the food. 

     Waggle dance - The waggle dance is used to communicate the distance and direction to food sources that are farther away and takes the shape of a figure 8. The worker bee first shakes its body from side to side (the "waggle") as it runs in a straight line across the comb at a certain angle, and then turns to the right and circles back to the starting point. The worker bee repeats the dance but then turns left and circles back. This combination is repeated up to 100 or more times. The number of waggles in the dance indicates the distance to the food source. The angle of the path across the comb indicates the angle from the sun that is taken to find the food source. 

     Grooming dance - When a honeybee needs to be cleaned, it will rapidly stomp its legs while rhythmically swinging its body from side to side, rapidly raising and lowering its body. Nearby bees who sense this dance will usually help clean the dancer.

Pheromones:

     Queen Pheromone - Honeybees produce chemical signals called pheromones which send important messages to other bees in the colony. The queen produces a pheromone that lets the colony know she is alive and healthy. Without this, the worker bees will think that their queen is dead or dying, and will produce a a new queen. Once produced, the new queen uses this pheromone to attract drones for mating.

     Orientation pheromone - The orientation pheromone is released by worker bees to communicate how to get back to the colony. Worker bees release this pheromone near the entrance of the colony. It is also used during swarming. When a new home is found, the pheromone guides the swarm to that location.

     Alarm pheromone - Two alarm pheromones are produced by worker bees. The first is used to scare off robber bees or other enemies. It acts as an anesthetic which can stop intruders once bitten. The second is released when a bee stings another animal. This pheromone tells other bees that a big threat is nearby and help is needed. Smoke helps to mask alarm pheromones, which is why beekeepers sometimes use smokers while tending to hives. 

Coming Soon!