How do bees see?
The compound eye of the bee allows it:
- to see the color red, provided it does not absorb in the ultraviolet range
- to detect a flower moved by the wind better than a stationary flower
- to see in the dark, during the night
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Correct answer : no. 2 (a flower moved by the wind is detected more easily than a stationary flower)
When an object moves within the visual field of a compound eye, the ommatidia are activated or deactivated in turn. This summation effect enables insects to estimate much more accurately whether an object is moving or stationary and to respond accordingly. For example, it has been observed that foraging bees visit flowers swayed by the wind more eagerly than those that remain still. One advantage of a compound eye for insects with predatory lifestyles is, for instance, that they can pass through dense forest without colliding with obstacles and capture other insects that are also flying at high speed, or conversely escape their predators. Compound eyes are therefore particularly well suited and highly effective at detecting very slight changes in an image or movement within an extremely short time span.
Contrary to what is often stated in beekeeping books or websites, it is false to claim that bees cannot see red objects and that hives should therefore not be painted red. In fact, the perception of red also depends on reflectance (or absorbance) in the ultraviolet range, which lies completely outside human vision. Consequently, relying on our human perception of a red paint does not allow us to determine whether or not that paint absorbs UV radiation.
Bees do not see in the dark and orient themselves in the darkness of the hive using other highly adapted organs (antennae, etc.). They do not leave the hive at night, except during nocturnal transport (migratory beekeeping); in such cases they do not fly but walk along the outer walls of the hive. If they fall to the ground at night during handling, they do not find their way back to the hive.