Honey bee colonies require a sophisticated and rapid communication system to coordinate the actions of tens of thousands of individuals. This collective efficiency, developed by the western honey bee (Apis mellifera) across multiple sensory channels, ensures the colony can efficiently allocate labor for defense, regulate social order, and quickly exploit external resources like nectar, pollen, and water. Communication methods range from intricate physical movements that convey precise spatial information to chemical signals that maintain the colony’s social organization.
Communicating Resource Location Through Dance
The most renowned form of honey bee communication is the dance language, which foragers use to broadcast the precise location of a resource to their nestmates. The information conveyed includes both the distance to the target and its direction relative to the position of the sun. The type of dance performed is directly related to how far the resource is from the hive.
For resources located very close to the hive, typically less than 50 meters away, the returning forager performs a simple round dance. This involves the bee running in a tight circle, frequently reversing direction, and does not provide directional information. The purpose is to alert other workers that a profitable source is nearby.
Recruits then use the scent carried on the dancer’s body to locate the flowers. For food sources at intermediate distances, between 50 and 150 meters, a transitional sickle dance may be used, which is crescent-shaped.
When the resource is farther away, exceeding about 150 meters, the forager executes the waggle dance. This involves the bee moving in a figure-eight pattern, with a straight run in the middle where the bee vigorously shakes its abdomen from side to side. The duration of this straight, waggle phase is proportional to the distance to the resource. A dance lasting only seconds can communicate a distance of a kilometer or more.
Directional information is encoded by the angle of the waggle run relative to the vertical axis of the comb. Inside the dark hive, the vertical direction is interpreted by the recruits as the position of the sun outside. If the waggle run is straight up, the recruits fly directly toward the sun. If it is 60 degrees to the left of vertical, the resource is 60 degrees to the left of the sun’s position. The recruits follow the dancing bee, feeling the vibrations and scent, and then fly out to the indicated location.
Chemical Messaging and Social Organization
Honey bee social structure is tightly regulated by chemical signals known as pheromones, which are released by individuals to influence the behavior or physiology of other colony members. These chemical messengers are categorized as either releaser pheromones, which cause an immediate behavioral change, or primer pheromones, which elicit long-term physiological changes.
The Queen Pheromone, often called “queen substance,” is primarily produced by the queen’s mandibular glands. Workers who groom and feed the queen circulate this pheromone throughout the colony, forming a “retinue” around her. Its presence acts as a primer signal, suppressing the development of ovaries in worker bees to ensure the queen remains the sole reproductive individual. The pheromone also regulates swarming behavior and helps maintain colony cohesion by signaling the queen’s presence and health.
Defense of the colony is coordinated by the Alarm Pheromone, which is released by guard bees, primarily from the Koschevnikov gland near the sting apparatus. This pheromone, which includes isopentyl acetate and has a scent similar to bananas, immediately mobilizes other workers to adopt defensive behavior. It directs them toward the perceived threat.
The Nasanov Pheromone is used for orientation and aggregation. Worker bees expose the gland, located on their abdomen, and fan their wings to disperse the scent into the air. This pheromone helps returning foragers locate the hive entrance, is used by bees to mark a new nest site during swarming, or can be deposited at a profitable food source to guide subsequent foragers.
Vibrational and Tactile Signals
Beyond the dance language and chemical signals, honey bees rely on physical cues, including sounds, vibrations, and direct contact, for coordination within the hive. These signals are generally used for short-range communication or to modulate activity levels rather than for long-distance resource location.
A distinct form of acoustic communication is piping, a sound produced by queens using their wing muscles without spreading their wings, which creates vibrations through the comb. A newly emerged queen will “toot,” signaling her presence and dominance to rivals. Queens still confined within their wax cells often respond with a lower-frequency sound called “quacking,” which relates to colony swarming readiness.
Workers also use physical vibration through the comb to coordinate activities. The shaking signal involves a worker rapidly vibrating its entire body, often while grasping a nestmate. This signal is thought to be a modulatory message that tells recipients to “prepare for greater activity.” Receiving the signal can cause bees to move faster and engage more readily in tasks like foraging or tending to the queen.
Direct physical contact is achieved through the exchange of food known as trophallaxis. During this mouth-to-mouth transfer, liquid food is exchanged, which not only distributes nourishment but also rapidly circulates pheromones throughout the colony. The intensity of this exchange and the frequency of antennae touching provide nestmates with information about the quality of the food source and the colony’s overall nutritional status.