Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Tactics of dance choice in honey bees: do foragers compare dances?

  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

(1) When a honey bee follows recruitment dances to locate a new food source, does she sample multiple dances representing different food sources and selectively respond to the strongest dance? (2) Several initial findings suggested that foragers might indeed compare dances. First, dance information is arrayed in the hive in a way that facilitates comparison-making: dances for different flower patches are performed close together in time and space. Second, food-source quality is coded in the dances, in terms of dance length (number of circuits per dance). Third, dances to natural food sources vary in length by more than 2 orders of magnitude, indicating that the quality of natural food sources varies greatly. Fourth, foragers seeking a new food source follow several dances before exiting the hive (though only one dance is followed closely). (3) Nevertheless, a critical test for comparison-making revealed that foragers evidently do not compare dances. A colony was given two feeders that were equidistant from the hive but different in profitability. If foragers do not compare dances, then the proportion of recruits arriving at the richer feeder should match the proportion of dance circuits for the richer feeder. This is the pattern that we found in all 11 trials of the experiment. (4) We suggest that the reason foragers do not compare dances is that a colony's foraging success is greater if its foragers distribute themselves among the various food sources being advertised in the hive than if they crowd themselves on the one, best source. (5) Food-source selection by honey bee colonies is a democratic decision-making process. This study reveals that this selection process is organized to function effectively even though each member of the democracy possesses incomplete information about the available choices.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bartholdi JJ, Seeley TD, Tovey CA, Vande Vate JH (1992) The pattern and effectiveness of forager allocation among flower patches by honey bee colonies. J Theor Biol (in press)

  • Beckers R, Deneubourg JL, Goss S, Pasteels JM (1990) Collective decision making through food recruitment. Insect Soc 37:258–267

    Google Scholar 

  • Boch R (1956) Die Tänze der Bienen bei nahen Und fernen Trachtquellen. Z Vergl Physiol 38:136–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler CG (1945) The influence of various physical and biological factors of the environment on honeybee activity. An examination of the relationship between activity and nectar concentration and abundance. J Exp Biol 21:5–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Camazine S, Sneyd J (1991) A mathematical model of colony-level nectar source selection by honey bees: self-organization through simple individual rules. J Theor Biol 149:547–571

    Google Scholar 

  • Deneubourg JL, Goss S, Franks N, Pasteels JM (1989) The blind leading the blind: modeling chemically mediated army ant raid patterns. J Insect Behav 2:719–725

    Google Scholar 

  • Eaton RC (1984) Neural mechanisms in startle behaviour. Plenum, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Esch H (1961) Über die Schallerzeugung beim Werbetanz der Honigbiene. Z Vergl Physiol 45:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Esch H (1963) Über die Auswirkung der Futterplatzqualitdt auf die Schallerzeugung im Werbetanz der Honigbiene (Apis mellifica). Zool Anzeig 26 (Suppl): 302–309

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferry G (1986) The egalitarian brain. New Scient 109 (no. 1490):41–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Franks NR (1989) Army ants: a collective intelligence. Am Scient 77:138–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Frisch K von (1967) The dance language and orientation of bees. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Heiligenberg W, Baker C, Matsubara J (1978) The jamming avoidance response in Eigenmannia revisited: the structure of a neuronal democracy. J Comp Physiol 127:267–286

    Google Scholar 

  • Heinrich B (1978) The economics of insect sociality. In: Krebs JR, Davies NB (eds) Behavioural ecology. Sinauer, Sunderland, Mass, pp 97–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstadter DR (1979) Gödel, Escher, Bach: an eternal golden braid. Basic Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopfield JJ (1982) Neural networks and physical systems with emergent collective computational abilities. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 79:2554–2558

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirchner WH, Dreller C, Towne WF (1991) Hearing in honeybees: operant conditioning and spontaneous reactions to airborne sound. J Comp Physiol 168:85–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Körner I (1939) Zeitgeddchtnis und Alarmierung bei den Bienen. Z Vergl Physiol 27:445–459

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindauer M (1948) Über die Einwirkung von Duft- und Geschmacksstoffen sowie anderer Faktoren auf die Tdnze der Bienen. Z Vergl Physiol 31:348–412

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindauer M (1955) Schwarmbienen auf Wohnungssuche. Z Vergl Physiol 37:263–324

    Google Scholar 

  • Lumsden CJ, Hölldobler B (1985) Ritualized combat and intercolony communication in ants. J Theor Biol 100:81–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Markl H (1985) Manipulation, modulation, information, cognition: some of the riddles of communication. Fortschr Zool 31:163–194

    Google Scholar 

  • McCall JJ (1970) Economics of information and job search. Q J Econ 84:113–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Michelsen A, Towne WF, Kirchner WH, Kryger P (1987) The acoustic near field of a dancing honeybee. J Comp Physiol 161:633–643

    Google Scholar 

  • Núñez JA (1966) Quantitative Beziehungen zwischen den Eigenschaften von Futterquellen und dem Verhalten von Sammelbienen. Z Vergl Physiol 53:142–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Núñez JA (1970) The relationship between sugar flow and foraging and recruiting behaviour of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). Anim Behav 18:527–538

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker GA (1983) Mate quality and mating decisions. In: Bateson P (ed) Mate choice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 141–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Pasteels JM, Deneubourg J-L, Goss S (1987a) Self-organization mechanisms in ant societies (1): Trail recruitment to newly discovered food sources. In: Pasteels JM, Deneubourg J-L (eds) From individual to collective behavior in social insects. Birkhäuser, Basel, pp 155–175

    Google Scholar 

  • Pasteels JM, Deneubourg J-L, Goss S (1987b) Transmission and amplification of information in a changing environment: the case of insect societies. In: Prigogine I, Sanglier M (eds) Law of nature and human conduct. G.O.R.D.E.S., Bruxelles, pp 129–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Ptashne M (1986) A genetic switch: gene control and phage λ. Blackwell, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Real L (1990) Search theory and mate choice. I. Models of singlesex discrimination. Am Nat 136:376–404

    Google Scholar 

  • Seeley TD (1985) Honeybee ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Seeley TD (1986) Social foraging by honeybees: how colonies allocate foragers among patches of flowers. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 19:343–354

    Google Scholar 

  • Seeley TD (1989) Social foraging in honey bees: how nectar foragers assess their colony's nutritional status. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 24:181–199

    Google Scholar 

  • Seeley TD, Levien RA (1987) A colony of mind. The beehive as thinking machine. The Sciences 27:38–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Seeley TD, Visscher PK (1988) Assessing the benefits of cooperation in honeybee foraging: search costs, forage quality, and competitive ability. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 22:229–237

    Google Scholar 

  • Seeley TD, Camazine S, Sneyd J (1991) Collective decision-making in honey bees: how colonies choose among nectar sources. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 28:277–290

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry. Second edition. Freeman, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Stigler GJ (1961) The economics of information. J Polit Econ 69:213–225

    Google Scholar 

  • Stigler GJ (1962) Information in the labor market. J Polit Econ 70:94–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Towne WF (1985) The spatial precision and mechanisms of the dance communication of honey bees: experimental and comparative studies. PhD Thesis, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Visscher PK, Seeley TD (1982) Foraging strategy of honeybee colonies in a temperate deciduous forest. Ecology 63:1790–1801

    Google Scholar 

  • Waddington KD (1982) Honey bee foraging profitability and round dance correlates. J Comp Physiol 148:297–301

    Google Scholar 

  • Waddington KD (1990) Foraging profits and thoracic temperature of honey bees (Apis mellifera). J Comp Physiol B 160:325–329

    Google Scholar 

  • Weaver N (1979) Possible recruitment of foraging honeybees to high-reward areas of the same plant species. J Apic Res 18:179–183

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenner AM (1962) Sound production during the waggle dance of the honey bee. Anim Behav 10:79–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenner AM, Wells PH, Rohlf FJ (1967) An analysis of the waggle dance and recruitment in honey bees. Physiol Zool 40:317–344

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams GC (1966) Adaptation and natural selection. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson DS, Sober E (1989) Reviving the superorganism. J Theor Biol 136:337–356

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson EO (1971) The insect societies. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Winston ML (1987) The biology of the honey bee. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Neurobiology and Behavior, Seeley G. Mudd Hall, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Thomas D. Seeley

  2. Department of Biology, Kutztown University, 19530, Kutztown, PA, USA

    William F. Towne

Authors
  1. Thomas D. Seeley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. William F. Towne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Offprint requests to: T.D. Seeley

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Seeley, T.D., Towne, W.F. Tactics of dance choice in honey bees: do foragers compare dances?. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 30, 59–69 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00168595

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00168595

Keywords

Search

Navigation