Following the lead of a sleep-deprived dancer: Honey bees (Apis mellifera) following waggle dancers respond differently if the dancers had lost sleep

Communication is vital for humans and honey bees alike.  When restricted of sleep, European honey bee foragers (Apis mellifera) still produce waggle dances that can advertise the location of a food source, but the direction component of the dance is less precise than if she had not lost sleep.  Signaling is one half of communication, but what about the receiving end?  We examined videotapes taken of waggle dancers and blindly analyzed the behavior of dance followers.  One factor determined how the follower followed the dancer: if the dancer had been magnetically disturbed within the hive by a custom-made Insominator during her sleep.  Sleep loss is expected to adversely impact communication and the resulting efficiency and health of a colony of insects.