The Life Scientific

Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

BBC Radio 4 LW

The Life Scientific: Adam Hart on ants, bees and insect burgers

Adam Hart on ants, bees and insect burgers

BBC Radio 4 - The Life Scientific, Adam Hart on ants, bees and insect burgers

When does a waggle dance become a tremble dance?

When does a waggle dance become a tremble dance? Adam Hart talks honey bees with Jim Al-Khalili and explains his love of leaf-cutting ants.

Ant-loving professor, Adam Hart, shares his passion for leaf cutting ants with Jim Al Khalili. Why do they put leaves in piles for other ants to pick up?  

Talking at the Hay Festival, Adam describes the experiments he designed to test  the intelligence of the hive mind. When does a waggle dance become a tremble dance?  And how do the honey bees know when this moment should be?     

We like the phrase ‘as busy as a bee’. In fact, bees spend a lot of time doing nothing at all, a sensible strategy from the point of view of natural selection.   

And where does Adam stand on insect burgers?  
Producer: Anna Buckley

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Podcasts

Factual: Life Stories

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientists about their life and work.

Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientists about their life and work, finding out what inspires them and asking what their discoveries might do for us in the future.

Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientists about their life and work, finding out what inspires and motivates them and asking what their discoveries might do for us in the future

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Life Scientific

Adam Hart on ants, bees and insect burgers

Genres

Series

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4