Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Honeybees Do Puzzling 'Wave' to Scare Enemies

By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 15, 2008 8:00 PM CDT
Email

(Newser) – Honeybees flip over en masse and reflect light with their bellies for a reason, scientists have found: It's to scare off enemies. Bee experts knew that giant honeybees in Southeast Asia flipped over by the hundreds or even thousands but only recently discovered they were warding off predatory wasps. What scientists don't know is how thousands of bees communicate fast enough to flip over in unison in 800 milliseconds.

"If you think of people doing the Mexican wave in football stadiums, it takes several seconds, even 10 seconds or longer for that wave to come around the football stadium," one author of the study told LiveScience. "The horizontal span of a honeybee nest can well reach 2 meters. The topic of my further expeditions is to find out how they communicate so quickly."

The queen is marked with yellow paint in one of the hives of honeybees kept by Ronnie Henk in Toano, Virginia, on July 14, 2005.
The queen is marked with yellow paint in one of the hives of honeybees kept by Ronnie Henk in Toano, Virginia, on July 14, 2005.   (KRT Photos)
Honeybees hard at work.
Honeybees hard at work.   (KRT Photos)
A colony of honeybees is seen at the United States Department of Agriculture's Bee Research Laboratory, Wednesday, April 25, 2007, in Beltsville, Md.
A colony of honeybees is seen at the United States Department of Agriculture's Bee Research Laboratory, Wednesday, April 25, 2007, in Beltsville, Md.   (AP Photo)
The Varroa mite, not much larger than the point of a sharpened pencil, is seen behind the eye of this honey bee, (brown area) May 10, 2005, in Gainesville, Fla.
The Varroa mite, not much larger than the point of a sharpened pencil, is seen behind the eye of this honey bee, (brown area) May 10, 2005, in Gainesville, Fla.   (AP Photo)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment on this story.

Dying honeybee hives still a mystery
Bloomington Herald-Times

Researchers aim to save bees with better diet
Wisconsin AG Connection

Like honeybees, bumblebees in decline
Washington Post

 
bees • study • science • honeybee

More Newser Stories

US Bumblebee Populations In Freefall

30-Second Alzheimer's Test in the Works

Whales Face 'Serious' Sunburn Threat

Honeybee Killer Finally Found

Hair-Curling Gene Found
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne