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Subject:
From:
Peter Borst <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 25 Feb 2024 13:34:34 -0500
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contains a few small errors but of interest

When A Bee Finds A Flower He Tells It With Jazz 

Jazz dancing is used by bees to tell one another where the best cafeterias are located. Prof. Karl von Frisch has discovered that when a bee finds a field of Juicy clover or other source of highly valued bee nourishment, it immediately flies back to the hive and performs a sort of Jazz dance on the surface of the honeycomb. Other bees are attracted by this singular performance and stand around in a circle. The performer then dashes out among them and gives now to one, now to another, a sort of secret grip. 

The bee thus let into the secret immediately flies away searching for the rich pasture. Other bees soon start out in other directions, but the flight is not all haphazard. The pioneer bee has brought back a faint scent of the flowers showing what other foragers may expect, and he has also left a scent of his own on the field so that the other bees may identify it. To conduct this research, von Frisch worked out an elaborate marking system, daubing different color combinations on the bees, so that swarms as numerous as 599 bees could be traced. 

The Science News-Letter February 23, 1924  

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