Bee’s sense of direction remains a scientific mystery. Indeed we know
foraging bees can leave their hives to find flowers and come back to
the exact same location, but we don’t really understand how !
Karl Von Frisch,
in 1967, is the first one to understand that bee’s sense of direction
and dances relies on the complex articulation of visual, magnetic and
olfactory senses.
Visual sense
Bees’ visual sense is the core element of their sense of direction, as one one would expect knowing bees have 5 eyes!
Yes you read right, bees have 5 eyes, two large ones on the side of
their head, and three smaller ones through which they can see in dark
environment. Their visual sense is influenced by the sun, colours,
shapes and movement, just like human’s is. They also use ultraviolet
radiation, which can go through clouds, and the sunlight. Scientific
experiences show that they can also find their way in terrible weather
conditions and under the rain.
Every beekeeper have had the crazy experience of moving their hives and
finding their foraging bees coming back to the exact spot of the
previous hive.
Magnetic and olfactory sense
Scientific facts have proven bees use magnetic field to navigate and find flowers. Bees have magnetic particles, at the top of their abdomen, that help them detect any shift in the weather or their location.
The last way they can navigate is their sense of smell, as foraging bees
do when they are looking for flowers, which is also essential when they
communicate through dancing.