This honeybee pollen forager is being released 3km from her hive. The RFID chip on her back enables researchers to measure the bees' exact flight times and homing success. Photo by Mario Pahl.
Bees remember landmarks and read information from the sky to find their way home from an amazing 11 kilometres away and over several days? travel, a new study from The Australian National University shows. Vision scientists have found more reasons for the honeybee's incredible knack of navigating cross-country ' these creatures often rely on the position of the sun, the polarisation of light in the sky, the panorama view of the horizon and landmarks including towers, mountains or lakes. Led by Professor ShaoWu Zhang from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science and ANU, the research team released bees in Canberra, where the landmarks include Black Mountain, Mount Ainslie, Red Hill and Lake Burley Griffin. 'We found that from four kilometres onwards, honeybees coming from the eastern direction return to their hives sooner than bees from the north, west and south,' said Professor Zhang. 'Also, when we released these bees from seven kilometres and above, only those from the east can successfully find their way back. ?This is because bees released from the east can see Black Mountain in the opposite direction. It also helps if they are released in the early afternoon, when the sun is situated in the west, too.
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