Honeybees can learn foreign languages
Scientists have found that Asian and European bees are able to communicate with each other, despite speaking different languages.Each species of bee has it's own dance language for communicating things like how far away food is, and in which direction.
But even though the dance languages are completely different researchers found that bees were quickly able to pick up what was being "said".
The boffins say they knew this because the bees who had been watching the foreign dance were able to find the food they had been given directions to.
Great, now I have been out-smarted by a honey bee ... who can probably also speak French better than me.
Dr. Shaowu Zhang from Australian National University said: "We were often able to observe both species of foragers dance in the mixed colony and saw the other species of bees following the dancing bee.
"The first thing the team observed was that the Asiatic and European bees had quite distinct dances even when they were foraging in the same environments.
"The team measured the waggle duration of the dance for both species in the mixed colony and found that they danced differently even though they had flown back from the same food source in identical environments.
"It was as if they were speaking different dialects about the same things then, after a time, it became clear that the Asian bees were able to decode the dances of the European bees."
LINKS
Australian National University
"The first thing the team observed was that the Asiatic and European bees had quite distinct dances even when they were foraging in the same environments.
"The team measured the waggle duration of the dance for both species in the mixed colony and found that they danced differently even though they had flown back from the same food source in identical environments.
"It was as if they were speaking different dialects about the same things then, after a time, it became clear that the Asian bees were able to decode the dances of the European bees."
LINKS
Australian National University
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