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Writer's pictureFiach OBroin-Molloy

How far do bees travel?

Honey bees are fascinating creatures that are known for their remarkable ability to travel long distances in search of food. Did you know that a single honey bee colony can travel up to 6 km (3.7 miles) from its hive to collect food? But the real question is, how do these tiny insects navigate such long distances and find their way back home?

Let's start with the "waggle dance." This is a special dance performed by foraging bees that communicates the location, distance, and quality of a food source to other bees in the colony. The dance involves a series of waggles and loops that indicate the direction and distance to the food source relative to the sun. It's an incredibly effective way for bees to share information and find food quickly.

Honey bees also use visual cues, such as landmarks, to navigate and find food sources. Studies have shown that they can use trees, buildings, and other landmarks to find their way back to the hive. Additionally, they use the polarisation pattern of the sky as a directional cue to help them navigate.

But what about when they can't see the sun or landmarks? That's where their sense of smell comes in. Honey bees have highly developed olfactory receptors that allow them to detect the scent of nectar and pollen from up to several kilometres away. Once they've found a food source, they use their sense of smell to remember its location and return to it in the future.

So, how do honey bees find their way back to the hive after collecting food? They use a combination of the sun’s position, visual landmarks, and an internal “map” of their surroundings to navigate. They fly in a straight line towards the hive while continuously adjusting their course based on their environment. The process of returning to the hive is called "homing," and it's crucial for the survival of the colony.

It's also worth mentioning that honey bees use their sense of smell to find their way back to the hive. The hive emits a specific scent that helps the bees orient themselves and locate their home. This scent is produced by pheromones secreted by the queen bee and other colony members.

In conclusion, honey bees are amazing creatures with a remarkable ability to navigate and find food. They use a combination of visual and olfactory cues, the sun's position, and landmarks to travel long distances and find their way back to the hive. Their ability to communicate with each other through the waggle dance and use their sense of smell to find food and their home is truly remarkable.


  1. S., & Wehner, R. (2002). Homing in desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis: the role of vision and the sky compass. Journal of Experimental Biology, 205(Pt 2), 195-202.

  2. Kim, Y. C., Lee, Y. H., & Lee, S. K. (2009). Sun compass orientation of honeybees in a laboratory flight arena. Animal behaviour, 77(2), 447-454.

  3. Girard, M., & Giurfa, M. (2007). The use of landmarks and polarisation patterns in the honeybee. Naturwissenschaften, 94(9), 817-826.

  4. Giurfa, M., Zhang, S., Jenett, A., Menzel, R., & Srinivasan, M. V. (2001). The concepts of ‘sameness’ and ‘difference’ in an insect. Nature, 410(6829), 930-933.

  5. Gerstner, E. (2010). Navigation by landmark guidance in honeybees. Journal of Experimental Biology, 213(15), 2601-2610.



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