Von Frisch's bee study

• Animal communication

  • Exchange of information between animals within the same species using a variety of signals (Vocal or visual)
• Bee dances - images

  Label the dances

  A) Round dance

  B) Waggle dance

  
• Von Frisch (1967) - Aim

  • To see how bees communicate information to each other
• Von Frisch (1967) - Method

  • He put food sources close to the hive and far away from the hive
  • When a bee visited the food source, he would mark it with paint
  • He then observed their behaviour at the hive
• Von Frisch (1967) - Results

  • Worker honey bees tell other bees where the pollen is by displaying one of two dances
• Round dances

  • For food less than 100 metres away
  • Bees moved around in a circle
• Waggle dances

  • For food more than 100 metres away
  • Bees moved in a figure of 8
  • The slower the dance, the further away the pollen
  • After watching the dance, 60% of bees went to find the food source
• Von Frisch (1967) - Conclusion

  • Bees have a sophisticated form of animal communication
  • Bees signalling system has an evolutionary value because it helps survival
• Von Frisch - evaluation (1)

  • Strength
  • Study made an important contribution to science
  • People knew that bees danced but didn't know what it meant
  • Shows how valuable his research was
  • He even won a nobel prize
• Von Frisch - evaluation (2)

  • Weakness
  • Importance of sound was overlooked
  • Another researcher found that if a bee did a dance in silence, other bees would not go looking for a food source
  • Shows that sound-based signals also play a part in directing bees
• Von Frisch - evaluation (3)

  • Weakness
  • Bees don't always respond to the waggle dance
  • Bees only responded 60% of the time
  • Shows that Von Frisch's account was incomplete
• How often did Von Frisch observe bees?

  • 6000 times over 20 years