Psychology Studies, Theories and Experiments

Von Frisch Bee Study (1950)

Language, Thought and Communication   Aim: To investigate how bees communicate the location of a food source to each other Method: Food sources for a hive of bees were created by placing glass containers of sugar water at different locations A glass hive was used so bees behaviour could be easily observed When bees visited the containers of sugar water they were marked with a spot of distinguishing paint-this made them easy to identify when retuning to the hive  The researcher observed the movements of the bees after returning to hive from food Results: The bees were observed making different movements based on how far the food source was from the hive When the food source was no further than 100 meters away from  hive, the bees did a round dance When sugar water was moved further away, the bees performed a waggle dance Von Frisch found the number of turns in 15 seconds during the waggle dance shows how far away the food source is He also found that the straight part of the dance is used to communicate where the feeding source is in relation to the sun Conclusion: Von Frisch concluded that bees use a variety of different movements to communicate to each other the distance and the direction of the food source