How would you tell a friend to go out to eat? Maybe in person, over a phone call, or maybe in a text? Would you dance in order to communicate to someone? Honey bees communicate about food sources in the surrounding area to their group members in a dance, known scientifically as the honey bee waggle dance. Each bee has a unique dance in order to signal to group members about a food source. Ebi George and Axel Brockmann (2019) were interested in studying the differences of individual foraging in bees at the same food sources along with the effects of dance activity with the removal of some foragers, and adding recruits to the food sources to see the effects of dance activities with the foragers.
Ebi George and Axel Brockmann (2019) began their study with the honey bee known as Apis mellifera. In order for the nest of honey bees to have successful foraging, there must be interaction between foragers and workers in order to communicate in tasks such as receiving and storing the food. The waggle dance is the biggest communication form between the foraging groups. This type of positive communication can effectively communicate the location of food sources along with the value of the group itself. There is also a negative communication with the waggle dance where dancing is stopped in order to communicate a possibly toxic food source. The researchers were questioning how honey bees respond in either an intra-group or an inter-group social interaction. Intra-group reactions have to do with responses with-in a honey bee group such as the waggle dance between foraging groups members. The inter-group refers to a relationship between two or more groups such as the introduction of a recruit into a new foraging group.
For the first experiment Ebi George and Axel Brockmann (2019) tested the variation in individual foragers visiting the same food source. The individual honey bees each had different forms of dance. With big groups active at the same food site there were large differences of dancing patterns between honey bees. Then when it came to removing a foraging honey bee, there was an increase of the probability of dancing rather than how long the bees would dance. Finally, when a recruit bee, a bee from a different group, was introduced to the group the dancing of foragers completely stopped.
The researchers were able to conclude that there is an active play between individuals and social groups when it comes to the waggle dance in honey bees. Within honey bee groups, individuals have unique communications about food sources. This unique communication can be understood by the concept that some honey bees see food sources as more relevant than others. This individual communication can also help the colony distribute work among its members by having specific methods to help with efficiency. When a honey bee was removed some foragers even increased its dancing probability. Yet, when another outside honey bee was added almost all of the foragers in the group stopped dancing. The addition of a recruit causes a change in the amount of food sources going into the hive, which causes the interworking of the hive to be affected. The increase of food source means there is not a need for as many signals communicating food, explaining why the dancing stops. Not only did adding a recruit change the foraging group structure but it also affected the hive as a whole, showing the interworking of communication in honey bees.
Their results brought in the discussion about the differences between honey bees and their communication styles. While they all display the waggle dance in their communication some are more passionate and enthusiastic about communicating. There are also large individual differences in their styles of dancing and communication. This ties to the differences in honey bees and their adaptation to their social environments. From the work of Ebi George and Axel Brockmann (2019) there is an interesting link between animal behavior corresponding to changes in the environment and social interactions. In the honey bees, a change in social interaction changes their waggle dance communication. While we as humans do not dance with a change in social interactions we can observe how changes in social environment can affect different species. The waggle dance is a key form of communication and the tie between social and individual experiences can change this dance in honey bees.
George, Ebi Antony. Brockmann, Axel. Social modulation of individual differences in dance communication in honey bees. Behavior Ecology and Sociobiology. 2019. 73, 41. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-019-2649-0#Sec17
