The complexity of the “waggling dance” that bees perform

The transmission of knowledge between species is done from generation to generation so that their offspring can adapt accordingly. quickly to an ever-changing environment. He social learning It has been documented in different animals and a recent investigation has resolved the unknowns behind the “bee “dance”.

James C. Nieh of the University of California, San Diego, conducted a survey in which his team collected testimonies on the transmission of knowledge who perform the the beesessential to the development of their colonies.

The research “Learning social cues of the wiggle dance in bees” was published on March 9 by the journal Science. Nieh, a professor in the Department of Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, explained that the scientific world is beginning to understand that animals can convey important information in the same way as humans.

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The researchers explained that with the social learning, honey bees They help to ensure the survival of the colony, as they are able to communicate through the “restless dance” the places where the main sources of food are.

There wriggling dance It is defined as the turns these insects make by rotating around their own axis and wagging their tails. This part of the dance is done in less than a second, which is impressive since it is performed on the uneven surface of the honeycomb.

Academics have explained that these insects start dancing when they reach the right age and they follow the steps that experienced bees perform. Regarding the first observations they made, they realized that bees that did not have the “example” of an older companion, tended to take uncoordinated steps.

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In the statements of Nieh, saved by the scientific community Physical, the dialects used by bees are shaped by their local environment. “He social learning it shapes signaling in bees, just like communication in human babies, birds, and many other vertebrate species,” the researchers said.

To achieve these results, the academics created bee coloniesone in which they could follow in the footsteps of a larger one and another in which there was no species that would “lead” the group or have more experience.

Following these new results, Nieh and his colleagues hope that in their future research, they can find answers about the influence of the environment on the configuration of language in these animals, as well as find evidence if the more experienced are able to transmit an optimized dialect. as well as conveying information about food sources.

“We know that bees are quite intelligent and have the ability to do remarkable things,” Nieh told Phys magazine.

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But researchers are also concerned since they consider that there are external factors which could interrupt “social learning” such as the use of pesticides for pest control, since multiple studies have shown the impact these substances have on bees.

cognition and learning Of these insects are affected, so there is a theory that the use of pesticides causes problems when they learn to communicate with each other and therefore endangers the survival of colonies.