By Charlotte Reid 
In hives, honey bees communicate not with sound or light, but with special dances.
The ‘wiggle’ dance conveys information about the direction and distance to the food source. However, scientists have discovered that bees do not simply follow signals — they compare the data they receive with their own memories and ‘maps’ of the area.
Experiments have shown that bees are able to recognise inconsistencies in their environment and adjust their flight based on familiar landmarks. This combination of social learning and individual experience makes their navigation flexible and effective, turning dancing into a complex form of communication that combines symbols and memory.
Further research has revealed that young bees learn to dance by observing experienced individuals, confirming the existence of cultural knowledge transfer.
Bee dance is not only a means of transmitting information, but also part of a complex social system that develops through learning and collective experience. This communication process puts bees on a par with the most intellectually developed animals on the planet.