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Honeybee Communication when the Sun is Close to the Zenith

Abstract

THE work of von Frisch1 and others has shown the ability of honeybees to communicate the direction of a food source by indicating the angle between the azimuths (compass direction) of the source of food and the Sun. In northern or southern latitudes, the Sun is always low enough in the sky for its azimuth to be clearly determined by the bees ; but in the tropics the Sun at one or two seasons of the year passes through the zenith (that is, directly overhead), or very close to the zenith, at midday. What effect does this have on honeybee communication ?

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References

  1. Frisch, K. v., “The Dancing Bees” (Methuen, London, 1954).

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  2. Lindauer, M., Naturwiss., 44, 1 (1957).

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NEW, D., BURROWES, F. & EDGAR, A. Honeybee Communication when the Sun is Close to the Zenith. Nature 189, 155–156 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/189155a0

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