Page 16 - Five buzzy bees_Neat

How do bees find and collect food?

Why do bees fly away from their hives?
They are searching for food to collect and bring back to their hive.

What kinds of food do bees collect?

They collect pollen (for protein) and nectar (for energy) from flowers.
How do bees know where to find food?

Bees have a great sense of smell and they can remember patterns and
colours that tell them they might be near a food supply. If a bee does
not know where to find food, they fly all over the place searching for
it. They might fly up to 10 km away from their hives, looking for food.
Worker bees fly more than 900 km during their lifetime!

How can a bee find its way back to its hive?
Bees use the sun as a compass. They remember the way back to their
hive by remembering where it is in relation to the sun in the sky. If there
is no sun, bees use landmarks like a river, lake or trees to find their way
home. Bees also have a sort of internal clock that tells them how far
they have flown.

If a bee finds food, how does it tell other bees where to find it?
First of all the bee gives samples of the food to the other bees so that
they will know what kind of food they are going to look for. Then it will
do a special dance which will tell the other bees where the food is.
If the food is nearby, the bee does a round dance by travelling in circles
in different directions. The other bees will then know to look near the
hive, using their sense of smell and looking for patterns and colours to
find the food.
If the food is a long way away, the bee does a waggle dance.
It will run in a straight line in a direction that shows the other bees if
the food is towards the sun or away from the sun. Then it will waggle
its abdomen and vibrate its wings. These movements tell the other bees
where to fly and how far to travel.

Useful websites about bee navigation

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bees/hive.html
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/animal-planet/28364-fooled-by-nature-bees-
navigation-system-video.htm
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/bee5.htm

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