Dance
Name |
Purpose |
In
this dance, the bee: |
| Round
Dance |
To
inform other bees of nectar within 10
meters. |
Runs
in small circles |
| Cleaning
Dance |
To
ask another bee for a grooming |
Stamps
her feet and shakes her body |
| Joy
Dance |
To
celebrate, for example, when a new queen
emerges from her cell |
Places
her front legs on one another and pulses
her abdomen up and down |
| Massage
Dance |
To request a massage…even a bee
needs a massage sometimes! |
Moves
her head in a certain angle. Other bees
respond by pulling her leg joints and
touching her sides. |
| Alarm
Dance |
When a food source is contaminated,
bees dance to warn others of the danger. |
Vibrates vigorously and runs in a zigzag,
spiral motion |
| Tremble
Dance |
To inform other bees that a large load
of nectar has arrived in the hive for
processing |
Walks
leisurely and wiggles their legs, causing
their bodies to quiver and tremble. |
| Shake
Dance |
To
inform house bees to help the foragers
collect nectar from a particularly rich
source. |
Foragers
shudder in front of one housebee at
a time, to notify up to 20 per minute. |
| Whir
Dance |
To
motivate the colony to leave the hive
and swarm. |
Runs
in zigzags, whirs its wings and shakes
its body. |
| Waggle
Dance |
To explain the distance, direction and
desirability of a nectar source farther
than 10 meters. |
Makes
two semi-circles and then runs the diameter
of the circle. The straight side of
the semi-circle shows direction, the
running speed shows distance and the
intensity shows the nectar’s sweetness
and quantity. |
