154 evolution: the ages and tomorrow 



load which the forager has brought back, and the degree of 

 richness of the find is at once apparent. If the find was an 

 exceptionally good one, the excitement of the returning bee 

 spreads quickly, especially since she begins a dance which 

 will be the more agitated the better the find. Up to this point 

 a psychologist would deny that a true language is involved, 

 and that has been the impression of biologists in general un- 

 til recently. In fact, it has been stated repeatedly up to a few 

 years ago that below the level of man there was no true lan- 

 guage capable of describing objects or concepts— even the 

 apes. Von Frisch's bees have dispelled that notion; nor is it 

 likely to return, since von Frisch's statements have already 

 been verified in o-eneral. 



The returning bee climbs up a section of the wax comb 

 and begins a stylized dance. If she dances on the same spot, 

 whirling to the right and then to the left (round dances), 

 she is telling her sisters that the flower she visited is near by, 

 not more than 50 yards or so away. In this dance she does 

 not give the direction, but just indicates proximity. Other 

 food gatherers hurry out and circle around the hive, their 

 height of flight giving them sufficient coverage of the terrain 

 to find the flower quickly. The dancing bee moves to an- 

 other section of the hive and repeats her round dance, again 

 and again if the find was a good one. 



If the source of the nectar is beyond 50 yards or so from 

 the hive, the returning bee does an entirely different dance 

 whereby she tells the other foragers not only the direction, 

 but also the distance of the flower. This is what von Frisch 

 calls a tail-wagging dance. The bee is on the side of the 

 comb; she runs a short distance in a straight line wagging 

 her abdomen from side to side very rapidly; at the end of 

 the run she then turns full circle to the left, runs forward 

 again, turns full circle to the right, and repeats this pattern 

 over and over again. The dance will be most vigorous if the 

 sugar content of the nectar is high; at 40 per cent or better 

 the bee will be very agitated. The dancer tells the other 



