Honey bees: do they use the distance information contained in their dance maneuver?

Regular visitors at one site (experimental) in a linear series of sites normally recruit inexperienced hive mates to or near that site. If bees from a second hive were allowed to forage at both control sites, however, recruits from the experimental hive, while orienting to these sites, exhibited no evidence of having used any distance information they might have received before leaving their parent hive.

Honey bee recruitment to food sources: olfaction or language?

Honey bee recruits locate food sources by olfaction and not by use of distance and direction information contained in the recruitment dance. Recruitment efficiency increases as odor of the food source accumulates in the hive, from hour to hour and from day to day. Flight patterns, landing patterns, bee odor, and Nassanoff secretion apparently do not aid in recruitment of bees.