Page 123 - The Miracle of the Honeybee

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north-facing entrance will be colder,
thus unsuitable for a shelter. The
scouts also bear this important de-
tail in mind when looking for a new
site. 102
Once they identify the site and
decide on its suitability, scouts mark
it with their scent, just as they do
with flowers. The bees expose their
These pictures show bees which scent glands and remain in the hive site for
have arrived at a joint decision and a while, thus allowing it to take on the
constructed their nest in tree trunks.
scent of the colony. 103

The Colony Goes into Action

Shortly after, the scouts arrive back where the colony is waiting for
them, and provide directions for them by dancing—the same dance per-
formed by bees when they locate a food source. The direction of the site
determined as being suitable is shown by the waggling part of the figure-
eight dance. The site’s suitability is indicated by the exuberance of the
dance. In the case of a site which fulfils all the necessary conditions, bees
may dance for half an hour or even an hour. But if the site is not ideal, then
they perform the dance less enthusiastically. 104
Bees do not head off in one direction all at once, because the scout bees
have explored an area of many square kilometers. And on its return to the
colony each scouting group will recommend a different site. There may be
several bees dancing at one time, and these groups will sometimes indi-
cate different directions. 105
Bees alerted by the scouts’ dance to leave the swarm’s cluster search
the area until they detect their own colony’s odor. The most suitable site
receives the largest number of bees, which in turn accumulates the great-
est amount of colony odor at that site. 106
Within one week, the hanging cluster of bees like a bunch of grapes dis-

Adnan Oktar