In the honey bee waggle dance, which information is encoded along with distance?

• A. Nectar quality
• B. Number of flowers visited
• C. Direction (bearing) to the resource
• D. Color of the source

Answer: (C)

In the honey bee waggle dance, distance is conveyed by how long the waggle run lasts. The information that travels along with that distance is the direction to the resource. The angle of the waggle relative to vertical maps to the bearing to the nectar source, using the sun as a moving reference frame. So followers can translate the dance into a real-world flight path.

Nectar quality, the number of flowers visited, or the color of the source aren’t encoded as part of this distance message in the same fixed way. The dance transmits location (direction) and distance, while other factors like resource profitability can influence how vigorously a bee dances, but aren’t the directional/ distance signal itself.