Bees have a map-like landscape memory

This vector allows them to access the resource from anywhere in their trusted territory. The research team, led by zoologist and neurobiologist Randolf Menzel from Freie Universität Berlin, examined the navigation and communication patterns of a hive of nearly 2,000 honey bees. After the insects saw a feeder doing a wagging dance, the researchers caught them exiting the hive. They were given a transponder to track their flight. They then released the bees at a location far from the hive and read out their location every three seconds.

Find source also from other location
The insects initially flew in the compass direction indicated in the wag dance, but the subsequent part of their flight was strongly influenced by the place of release. They found the food source that had been communicated to them during the dance. From this, the research team concludes that “bees are able to store the metric references between landmarks and read them out for the message of the wag dance in such a way that they can fly from any location to the point indicated in the dance “. They would learn this landscape memory during their flights as young bees.

The information transferred is therefore more extensive than previously assumed. For example, it was known that information about the distance and direction to the food source is passed on. The bees measure distance by the number of objects, such as trees, they fly past. In the dance, each tail means 80 meters. The Austrian behavioral researcher Karl von Frisch was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 50 years ago for these findings. For years he had deciphered the sensory perceptions and “language” of bees.