# Beekeepers beekeeping > Local associations >  Communication in Bees

## gavin

I promised the audiences of this talk a list of videos they could look at again:

Grooming:




Dorso-ventral abdominal vibration signal:




Heater bees (the long version):




Waggle dance:




The Tom Seeley swarming videos:

http://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/series/5/

The Stop signal:




Waving in Apis dorsata to repel predators:




Waving to synchronise attack on Giant hornet in Apis cerana:




Virgin queen piping:




Enjoy!

Gavin

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## gavin

Last night I forgot to return to the first video and ask the good folk of Ayrshire what they could _now_ see in that first video.  Any takers?  We discussed the begging for grooming (sideways flicking) and the response of the groomer (grooming!), but not other interactions in the video.

Next stop Kilbarchan - but I can't remember when!

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## EmsE

I'd better not look then. Don't want to spoil the surprise  :Stick Out Tongue: . The talk is on the 2nd Tuesday in March. Looking forward to it.

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## gavin

Thanks!

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## Rosie

I have looked at a few of them so far but noticed one surprising comment on the heater bee video.  It was stated that scouts live up to 10 times longer than foragers.  Has anyone else ever heard that one before?  Is there a grain of truth in it?

Rosie

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## gavin

(close your eyes Ems)

That is the one thing in there that I'm not sure about either.  They were advised by Jurgen Tautz' lab, so you'd expect it to be correct, but it does seem an incredible claim.

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## Rosie

I remember when Bill Oddie did a piece about bumble bees on Springwatch.  His researchers had consulted the BBKA and by the time it got  to his delivery he got bumblebees and honey bees mixed up and started talking rubbish.  I suspect something similar has happened here.  They got their scouts mixed up with their queens.  The original information provided by Tautz's lab was probably correct.

Rosie

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## gavin

Yes, sounds feasible.  Ten times 6 weeks isn't far from the average life of a queen in a swarmy Carniolan colony.

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## gavin

Lovely to meet the happy beekeepers of Kilbarchan tonight (I drove home safely by the way).  There are two forum posters in this cheery bunch.  Intelligent, questioning beekeepers and nearly beekeepers every one.





Only Peter was missed by the camera.

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## EmsE

Hi Gavin,
That was a really enjoyable talk -thank you, 
and certainly worth not peeking at the videos before hand. Good to hear you got back safely. When I went to post this last night the forum was down and thought it would either be the influx of new kilbarchan forum members joining after being encouraged to do so, or that you were uploading the photo's. :Wink: .

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## gavin

Hi Ems

Lovely to see you, to meet Beejud, and see all the other fine people of the Kilbarchan area.  Look!  I even got a smile from Ian for the photograph.  Keep looking out for funny bee behaviours.

There were so many questions raised on things like the switching of scout and forager roles, and whether nest scouts are faithful to their choices prior to swarming, that I'm expecting local sales of little pots of coloured paint to rocket and the pages of the Scottish Beekeeper (and the pages of SBAi!) to be full of amateur sleuthing by Kilbarchan investigators.

Gavin

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## Beejud

Hi Gavin, 
Well I guess you were serious about posting the photos of our motley crew! We do all look very smiley! Thanks for a very thought provoking talk. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the questions and chat that followed. I hadn't realised that you had posted the videos earlier but will have a look at some of them again and will take time to study my own bees too.
I have to say that when trying to hastily reassemble my  two hives that blew over in the January storms, I may not have had the benefit of your talk on communication of bees at that point, but was left in no doubt whatsoever about their thoughts on the matter!!
Appreciate you making the long round trip to talk to us.
Judith

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## gavin

The roadshow trundled across to Helensburgh last night and what a grand evening it was to admire the wonderful scenery on the way over.  It was a great night and the audience were most attentive, even lively.  Great to see you all, and thanks for the hospitality.

It is becoming a habit of mine (all the best rock stars do this!) to turn a camera on the audience and show the world what they look like, in this case to help encourage them onto SBAi.  One prominent poster can be seen in the corner, and apologies to the guy on the right with only arms on show.  I think that was Ben, and as Ben is one of the most well-known beekeepers in Scotland maybe you don't need to see him. 

Odd how folk respond to the camera by both smiling and folding their arms!

Next stop Haddington.

G.

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## onj

Looking forward to the Haddington leg of your tour!

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## gavin

You'll need to practice that smile for the camera without crossing your arms!

G.

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## gavin

And the people of East Lothian ...  lectured to tonight.

Should be a picture here but I'll sort it tomorrow.

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Here we are.  Forgot the regular camera so this is from my crappy phone camera.  The stalwarts of East Lothian, assembled in a hall in the middle of Haddington last night to see if this bee communication lark is all it is cracked up to be.

I seem to have eliminated a Colin from the picture.  Sorry Colin.  Clearly you knew that only those sitting at one of the front corners are likely to get missed out of these SBAi pictures.  Six out of ten for the arm-folding.  Clearly a more composed and self-assured bunch than the Helensburgh crew!

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## gavin

Just thought that I should post the waggle dance video I used last night, in case anyone comes here for revision.  It is clearer than the earlier one.

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## gavin

The 2013-2014 lecture season is underway and the happy folk of Dunblane and Stirling witnessed the Communication talk last night.  If only I'd remembered to turn a camera on the audience.  You'll find links to the videos at the top of the thread - but unfortunately the SciFri site no longer host the Tom Seeley videos.

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## kevboab

Was definately a very interesting talk certainly giving me a clearer understanding of some of the going on's within the hive some of which I have seen and some which I will be sure to look out for in the future. Many thanks for your time.

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## gavin

Thanks Kev - hardly spotted you up the back of that huge crowd (you shrinking violet you!). 

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## EmsE

> If only I'd remembered to turn a camera on the audience....


Feel free to forget your camera when you visit Kilbarchan next month  :Big Grin: 

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## gavin

I'm determined to see whether the Kilbarchan crowd, wonderful people that they are, have become confident, self-assured, comfortable with themselves, and have no need for this arm-crossing I saw last time.  Points out of ten will be awarded.  

I'll be bristling with cameras!

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## Feckless Drone

> I'm determined to see whether the Kilbarchan crowd, wonderful people that they are, have become confident, self-assured, comfortable with themselves, and have no need for this arm-crossing I saw last time.  Points out of ten will be awarded.  
> 
> I'll be bristling with cameras!


body language issues communication in humans - came across this

"In some cultures arm crossing signals that the person is holding themself still so they can pay greater attention to you (and is hence a compliment)."

Always take the positive. But be careful in darkest Renfrewshire -

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## gavin

Well, in central Glasgow last night there were a few holding themselves in that manner, but most were relaxed and smiley.  A happy, well-adjusted lot was my interpretation. Even those not smiling in the picture were attentive, interested, constructive and polite.  I really enjoyed the trip - thanks for having me!  This was my second attempt at getting a sharp photo - no need for any deliberate soft focus effects with this lot!



One addition to earlier versions was the inclusion of the Stop signal as used during swarm decision making.  This one comes from Tom Seeley's lab.  Once the 60-100 scouts have agreed a new site, they turn their attentions to silencing dancers that haven't yet got the message.  Otherwise, when the swarm takes to the air, they might split and head off in different directions, each split lead by a set of scouts doing their own zipping back and forward flights pointing the way.  The signal appears to be the same one used by foragers seeing dancers promoting visits to a risky forage site once they are back in the nest. 

In this case the dancer is persistent, presumably she thinks 'her' nest site was a good one.

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## gavin

The Communications roadshow goes international (kind of).  Just back from an extended stay in Belfast (thanks Jon!).  Great to meet Brothermoo (What a helpful fellow! Pops up everywhere, doing helpful jobs for people), Blackcavebees (always looks happy!) and a whole slew of Belfast and Ulster beekeepers, plus a trip round all Jon's favourite bee places, a visit to the legendary site of the Donkey Incident, and I made friends with Luna the dog.  OK, there were a few arm-folders but I never warned them that their composure might be compared with that of associations in Scotland.  They meet in Holywood and the first name I heard when I got in was Frankie (no implications of sexual orientation intended).  Cracking facilities they have there.  We usually make do with basic church halls this side of the Irish Sea.

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## Jon

And he managed to cut me out of the photo! I can see Moo at Houston mission control at the back of the room. Cameo appearance from Terry Clare ex Bibba president.

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## busybeephilip

I can see me too !

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## busybeephilip

Jon,
Belfast is one of the oldest beekeeping associations in N.Ireland, we are 72 years young this season.  Our oldest subscribing member is Bill, middle of the 3 in the front row - wont tell you who is second on the list but I'm sure you could make a good guess.

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## gavin

Absolutely lovely evening for a dander up to Highland Perthshire tonight for a talk to the Fortingall Beekeepers.  Great to see you all.

G.

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## drumgerry

Yew had a good time then!  :Wink:

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## fatshark

A lovely part of the world … I note the bare legs and rather snazzy shoes on the left hand side of the pic. Was that a beekeeper?

PS This thread prompted me to re-read the Donkey Incident. Classic.

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## gavin

Very good! The meeting was in Camserney, a couple of miles short of that amazing longest lived plant in Europe. 

Yes, beekeeping legs I think though there were non beekeepers in the room thanks to Jo's aggressive poster campaign in the local villages. It was quite a surprise to see my name up on the boards. 

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## Feckless Drone

> It was quite a surprise to see my name up on the boards. 
> 
> Sent from my BlackBerry 8520 using Tapatalk


 And there must be a chance that you will get some votes in the EU election tomorrow.

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## gavin

> And there must be a chance that you will get some votes in the EU election tomorrow.


Sadly they weren't on correx otherwise the next generation of nuc boxes would have been sorted.

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## mbc

> This thread prompted me to re-read the Donkey Incident. Classic.


Aye, got to rank up there with the finest bee literature ever written, and the Val song always brings a smile.

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## busybeephilip

Jon,

Lots of correx free for the taking after tomorrow !!   :Smile: 

Phil

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## gavin

Nice to have another outing for the Bee Communication talk today.  The Aberdeen and District Beekeepers are by far the largest group in Scotland with round 230 members.  Here is a fair chunk of them enjoying some bee communication videos this afternoon.  Nice to meet you Kitta.  There is at least one more forum poster (no, there's two!) in the foreground.

aberdeen.jpg

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## fatshark

There's a close to devotional "looking up" attitude from some of the audience.

Was the stage very high  :Smile:  ?

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## The Drone Ranger

cheeeky  :Smile: 

Ban 'im Guvnor

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## Mellifera Crofter

Likewise, Gavin.  It was nice meeting you - more than five years later, and I almost did not make it again as the track from the croft was a skating rink.  I was also pleased to have met Ewan.

Gavin's talk was good, Fatshark, and impressive - but contrary to what you might have thought, the 'devotional looking-up' was us being fascinated by the film clips of clever bees. Gavin wasn't hovering up there above our heads!

Kitta

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## emcampbell

Great talk Gavin and good to meet you Kitta ! 

I'm going to steal your stolen videos for an undergrad lecture tomorrow  :Wink:  I think the photo was taken when Gavin was performing yogic flying across the stage ?

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## gavin

> Great talk Gavin and good to meet you Kitta ! 
> 
> I'm going to steal your stolen videos for an undergrad lecture tomorrow  I think the photo was taken when Gavin was performing yogic flying across the stage ?


That's it!  I cast a spell on Kitta so that she didn't see it as I thought it might be a bit much for her, even if she was up the back.

If you want any that are no longer available, let me know.

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## fatshark

> I think the photo was taken when Gavin was performing yogic flying across the stage ?


Damn ... he's going to show up other BKA invited speakers as washed-up has-beens. They're going to have to up their game ... 

I'm in training for Apimondia

monk.jpg

PS It's a quiet afternoon  :Wink:

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