The Language of Bees

Bees communicate their floral findings in order to recruit other worker bees of the hive to forage in the same area

24 February 2010

There are two main hypotheses to explain how foragers recruit other workers; the "waggle dance" theory and the "odor plume" theory. The dance language theory is far more widely accepted, and has far more empirical support.

Honeybees do not only waggle dance to tell hive mates the whereabouts of good eats, they also bump and beep to warn others when big trouble awaits...

Source: The Language of Bees

Link: Stripes may not be bees' defence/UK researchers have found that birds avoid bumblebees even when the insects do not have the classic black-and-yellow stripes