- Solely to sense smells, tastes and contact.
- Solely to perceive sounds and air movements.
- To perceive several kinds of information from the environment: smells, tastes, contact, vibrations, temperature, humidity and certain chemical or physical signals.
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Correct answer: 3.
To perceive several kinds of information from the environment: smells, tastes, contact, vibrations, temperature, humidity and certain chemical or physical signals.
Why?
The bee's antennae are true multifunctional sensory organs. They serve not only to "smell" odours: they also take part in touch, taste, the perception of humidity, temperature and certain air movements or vibrations.
They are covered with numerous microscopic sensors, called sensilla, which transmit essential information to the bee's nervous system.
What to understand
Thanks to its antennae, the bee can recognise floral odours, perceive pheromones, explore a surface, assess certain signals from the brood or the queen, and orient itself in the very complex environment of the colony.
The antennae also contribute to social communication. In the darkness of the hive, antennal contacts between bees play an important role in the exchange of information and in the coordination of behaviours.
The perception of sounds in the bee does not correspond exactly to human hearing. It is rather the detection of vibrations, air movements or mechanical signals. Some work also indicates that bees can perceive weak electrical signals, but this notion should be presented with caution in an introductory context.
What to remember
The antennae are indispensable to the bee's life: they combine several senses in a single organ.
For the beekeeper, this is a reminder that bees live in a sensory world very different from ours, dominated by smells, contacts, vibrations and chemical signals.
Further reading
► The senses housed in the bee's antennae
► The individual intelligence of the bee
► Pheromones, agents of behavioural plasticity