 They are the James Bonds of the insect world. Bees not only spy
on each other, but some conceal their communications to confound
the spies.
Bees have two main ways to tell their hive where to find food:
abstract representations such as sounds or dances within the hive
itself or scent markings outside.
James Nieh, an assistant professor of biology at UCSD, has hypothesized
that communication inside the hive may have evolved as a way of
avoiding espionage by competitors. His group of researchers studied
the interactions of two species of sting-less bees prevalent in
South and Central America. One species is aggressive and the other
is more mellow.
Nieh found that the aggressive bees were able to pinpoint a food
source by following odor marks deposited by the other species and
then stealing the food. In reaction to this spying, Nieh believes
that other sting-less bees evolved sounds and dances within the
hive to keep information about food sources secret.
“The
ability of foragers to communicate food locations within the confines
of the hive, where other bees cannot eavesdrop, would be a clear
evolutionary advantage,” says Nieh. So is that a buzz we hear
or a shhh!
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