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Why do we say "make a beeline"?
Why do we say "make a beeline"?β
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In fact, beelining, also called bee hunting, was old method of tracking wild bees to find their hives and collect honey. Beeliners would capture worker bees and release them from various points in order to find the hive.
Beeline #2: A bee going to a new food source after receiving directions from another bee.
Once a bee has identified a fantastic food source, they will make a beeline to return directly to it β and show other bees the way.
There's no point in spending energy flying around to find a new food source when you've hit the jackpot. So a bee will fly directly back to it to gather up nectar and pollen for the hive.
What's better than one bee knowing where the goods are? Lots of bees!
To share this vital info, a bee will perform what's known as the waggle dance. The waggle dance is one of the most complex examples of non-primate communication known to science.
Here's how it works: Back at the hive, the bee with the intel will dance in a short wiggling run which communicates the direction and length of time it takes to fly to the spot. For example, if a bee is angled 90Β° to the right of the top of the hive, they're telling other bees in that direction to find the food source. The length of the dance indicates how far away it is.
By performing a waggle dance, the bee who recently made a beeline from the food source can now direct other bees to join it in making a beeline to the food source.
So while bees seem to mosey around, they're actually quite efficient in getting from point A to point B(ee), making their behavior a fitting origin for the phrase "make a beeline."
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βSources for this week's newsletterβ
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π Book of the week
βAssata by Assata Shakurβ
Assata is a powerful and deeply personal autobiography of Black Panther and civil rights activist Assata Shakur (FKA JoAnne Chesimard). Shakur describes her experience growing up Black in America and how it led her to become an activist, eventually becoming a political asylum in Cuba. You'll get an insider's look at the various revolutionary groups that emerged during the 1970s. She speaks candidly about the struggles, internal conflicts, and the ever-present dangers faced by activists fighting against institutional oppression.
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βCheck out the full list of books I've recommended here.
π Catch up on other curious questions
- βWhy doesn't honey go bad?ββ
- βHow does the power grid work?ββ
- βWhy do lizards do push ups?ββ
P.S. π€ Do you have a question for the newsletter? Click here to submit your question (or reply to this email!)
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π‘ Today You Should Know
Learn something new every Friday. Join 2,000+ nerds and satisfy your curiosity one question at a time with topics including science, technology, history, and more.
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