348 



THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



o 



Figure 17.20. The round-dance, an alternation of circling first one way and then 

 the other. (After von Frisch.) 



language is oriented entirely toward economy in the effort of gather- 

 ing nectar and pollen. It is a device by which a bee, having found a 

 honey or pollen source, is able to communicate to other workers the 

 necessary information about its location. Communication falls into two 

 categories, that for sources nearby, and that for sources some distance 

 away. 



A bee returning with a load of nectar or pollen from a good source 

 within 100 yards of the hive unloads and then begins a round-dance, 

 turning to the right and left in small circles (Fig. 17.20). This excites 

 other foragers near her, who keep their antennae on her and chase be- 

 hind her in the dance (in the darkness of the hive antennal contact is 

 used because vision is useless). Chemoreceptors on the antennae pick 

 up the scent of the food, identifying the kind of pollen or nectar. Then 

 the dancing bee abruptly moves elsewhere in the hive and repeats, 



A B CD 



t ^ 



V 



; 



Suii 





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)un 



Danccz- Suii. Dance 



Figure 17.21. The wagging dance. A-D, the four successive steps of the dance. The 

 following four figures demonstrate the relation of the straight rush to the direction of the 

 food, in which upward (toward top of page here) on the vertical surface inside the hive 

 is substituted for sunward outdoors. (After von Frisch.) 



