Honey bees navigate more precisely than previously thought

7 days ago

Honey bees navigate with high precision using landmarks in natural landscapes.
A drone-based tracking system (Fast Lock-On Tracking) was used to record 3D flight paths of bees.
Each bee maintains unique, highly precise individual routes between hive and food source.
Bees show greater flight path precision near prominent landmarks compared to uniform areas like cornfields.
The waggle dance's inaccuracy is not due to bees' navigational limits but reflects communication constraints.
Research funded by Volkswagen Foundation and German Research Foundation.

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