SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY

Bees Translate Dances of Foreign Species

from the Guardian (UK)

Honeybees can communicate with others from far-off continents by learning to interpret their dance moves, scientists have found.

The world's nine species of honeybee separated about 30m years ago and have since developed their own diverse dances, which are used like languages.

One of the most important moves is the waggle dance, which foraging honeybees use to tell workers back at the nest how far away and in which direction they will find a new source of nectar. In the dance, bees shake rapidly from side to side as they move forward, before looping around and starting again.