Communication between honey bees

There are several communication dances, communication indicating food source is illustrated

Food source is fairly close – less than 150 metres

Circular or round dance:

The worker engages in a circular pattern. The other workers pick up the odour information and then will look in the immediate vicinity of the hive.

Food source is 150 metres of more away

The Waggle dance

The dance is composed of:

A straight run – the direction of which conveys information about the direction of the food

The speed – the dance is repeated indicates how far away the food is

The duration – correlated also with the distance – the further the waggles run the further the food source.

This can be illustrated by the following drawing

Bee behavior

In days where there are alternative days of rain, the bees can become more aggressive. The rain water limits the bee’s ability to work. The rain also may wash out nectar from flowers which then take a couple of days to replenish their nectar supplies.