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

	Created by Rosie Marlton almost 6 years ago

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Psychology Studies, Theories and Experiments