Dance of the bees
The evolution of community living is also elaborate in bees. A single queen bee is also a specialist egg-layer, that is supported by worker bees. The community is also bound by a system of chemical messages (pheromones) but they also use a dance behavioural pattern to communicate to each other. When a worker bee returns from a new nectar laden flower a dance behavioural sequence is initiated. If the source is nearby, the bee performs a simple round dance, alternatively circling in clockwise and counter clockwise directions. The other bees are excited by the dancing scout and follow it outside, and they find the food by orientating to chemical signals present on the scouts body. If the food source is more than 80 m from the hive, the scout expresses this in its dance with a distance and direction of the source. A waggle dance traces two semi-circles with a straight run between them. The food's distance is described by sounds and wagging movements executed during the straight run. The further away the food lies the longer the sounds last and the more slowly the dancing bee waggles its abdomen. The angle of the straight run describes the direction of the food source in relation to the sun. A run straight up the hive wall denotes a location directly towards the sun. When food exists at an angle to the left or right of the sun, the bee runs at the same angle to the left or right of the vertical. Even on cloudy days these dances are effective, because bees detect the sun's location by the analysis of polarized light. The interpretation of these behavioural patterns have been debated, since inexperienced workers do not seem to be as efficient at foraging for pollen whereas experienced workers are almost always successful. The returning scout bee is usually covered with pollen and some researchers feel that the bees respond to olfactory signals rather than the interpretation of behavioural patterns.
