How do honeybees communicate the direction and distance of a food source?

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A honeybee collects pollen from the yellow stamens of a pink and cream honeysuckle flower against a blurred green background. — Pollination Common carder bumblebee (*Bombus pascuorum*) pollinating a honeysuckle (*Lonicera* species) flower.

Honeybees communicate the location of a distant food source to other members of their colony through a specialized behavior known as the waggle dance.12

During this dance, the bee performs a figure-eight pattern that includes a straight "walk" phase accompanied by a sporadic fluttering of her wings. This movement serves to inform other bees of both the direction and the distance of the nectar source. By utilizing these specific behavioral adaptations, honeybees are able to efficiently share information about abundant resources within their environment.12