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Let’s Begin!
Ready to put your bee communication skills to the test? Watch a bee dance, then try to find the right flower patch. Pay close attention, you never know when you may run into predators such as wasps. Good luck!
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Enter an (optional) name in the box below to appear on your score printout.
Note: This can only be changed at the beginning of a new game.
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Beginner Mode
You’re a new bee still learning the way of the waggle dance.
4 Levels -
Advanced Mode
You’re an experience bee looking for a challenge!
8 Levels
The Way of the Waggle Dance: Level 00
Inside the Hive
You are a bee inside your home hive. One of your sisters has just returned from foraging with important information to share about a great new flower patch she has found! It’s your mission to go out and find it, to collect resources for your colony.
Pay careful attention to the dance you see, and think about what it tells you about the distance and the direction of the flower you are looking for.
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Your specialty is collecting nectar. The dancing bee will also give you a sample she collected from the flower, to show you the nectar concentrations of the flower patch you’re trying to find. When you follow her through her dance, you will learn about the scent concentrations of the flower patch that are on her abdomen.
Nectar: 000%
Scent: 000%
Learn more
Once a bee finds a good flower, she collects resources and returns to the hive, and dances to tell other members of her colony where to find the flower so they can go and collect more resources from it.
Nectar Meter: To motivate other bees find the correct flower patch, the dancing bee shares a sample of nectar she collected with them. She does this by regurgitating a sample of the nectar that was stored in her honey stomach for them to taste.
Scent Meter: Watching bees smell the scent of the flower on the dancing bees’ hind end. These clues help the watching bees locate the correct flower patch outside the hive.
Go find flowers!
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The Way of the Waggle Dance: Level 00
Level Complete
Great work - you found the correct flower patch! You return to your home hive carrying lots of resources you collected from the flower you found.
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Ready for the next challenge?
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The Way of the Waggle Dance
Congratulations!
You have successfully completed all levels in Beginner Mode.
You have learned to understand how bees use dances to communicate with other bees about where the best flowers are located.
Your bee works hard all summer collecting pollen and nectar for the colony. The colony grows and thrives, and has enough honey to make it through the winter!
You have successfully completed all levels in Advanced Mode.
You have mastered the way of the waggle dance! You have learned to understand how bees use dances to communicate with other bees about where the best flowers are located. You also learned that the directions in the dance inside the hive relates to the position of the sun outside, and you made sure to avoid predators in the field while collecting honey.
Your bee works hard all summer collecting pollen and nectar for the colony. The colony grows and thrives, and has enough honey to make it through the winter!
Print Score
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Play Again!
Ready for a more difficult challenge? Put your skills to the test in Advanced Mode. Play Advanced Mode more than once to perfect your skills and try to beat your highest score by dodging wasps and finding flowers more quickly. Or, if you need a little more practice on the basics first, play a new game in Beginner Mode.
Ready for another challenge? Test your skills again in the Advanced Mode, as no two games are the same. Perfect your skills and try to beat your highest score by dodging wasps and finding flowers more quickly. If Advanced Mode was too difficult, practice your basics again by playing a new game in Beginner Mode.
To learn more about the fascinating life of honey bees, read Bee Bonanza on the Ask A Biologist website. You can explore a virtual beehive from a bee’s point of view, or watch real honey bees doing the waggle dance.
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Beginner Mode
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Advanced Mode
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The Way of the Waggle Dance
00:00:00
The Way of the Waggle Dance: Level 00
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Normal Vision (color)
Bee Vision (UV)
Nectar Concentration: 000%
Pollen Concentration: 000%
Scent Concentration: 000%
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Your goal is to find the correct flower. Think about the dance you saw in the hive, and the information it gave you about the location of the correct flower patch. Inspect flowers to learn more about them. If you need to see the dance again, return to the hive.