> What is the current consensus on the "waggle dance" controversy?  I
> thought that the robot bee work reported in National Geographic a
> few years ago had proved Von Frisch correct but I came across a
> recent book by Wenner and Wells still arguing in favour of the odour
> hypothesis.
>
> I understand that AD Blest reported that post-flight movements of
> some moths contain information on the flight they have just
> completed.  Is it possible that the bee's waggle dance (and the
> moth's movements) serve to aid the insect in learning for its own
> purposes?  That is, could the waggle dance of bees be a way of
> fixing the information on a food source in the nervous system of the
> bee doing the dancing?  Any communication of the information to
> other bees (if it indeed occurs) would be a bonus.
 
Well, I don't think it has to be one or the other.  Both are good
explanations.
 
The waggle dance is seen on swarms which have moved out, but are
still (we think) deciding on their destination.  This is a much more
transient state than the normal hive foraging situation and would
seem to substantiate the waggle dance.
 
However  Adrian in a recent article says - if I understand him
correctly -  that the actual navigation is by following scent trails
in the air laid down by numerous scouts going out and returning, not
by having learned about the location in a dance.
 
When we find a group of people at (say) a MacDonalds restaurant, they
have found out about it through many different means: Scent, sight,
descriptions from others, being led there by others, etc. etc.
 
Why should bees be different?
Regards
 
Allen
 
W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                                    VE6CFK
Rural Route One, Swalwell, Alberta  Canada  T0M 1Y0
Honey. Bees, Art, & Futures <http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~dicka>