Fill in the Blanks (Reading & Writing)

Choose the word that best fits each blank.

When a honeybee discovers a rich patch of flowers, she does not simply fly back and lead her hivemates to it. Instead, she performs a remarkable routine on the vertical surface of the comb known as the waggle dance. By walking in a straight line while rapidly shaking her body, then circling back to repeat the movement, she conveys two crucial pieces of information at once. The angle of the straight run relative to vertical tells the other bees the direction of the food in relation to the sun, while the length of time she spends waggling indicates how far away the food lies. The more vigorous her performance, the richer the source she has found. Through this elegant code, a single forager can recruit dozens of others to a location she alone has visited.

A honeybee that finds flowers does not lead others there but instead performs a —danceflightjourney on the comb, using the angle of her run to signal direction and the duration of her waggling to —indicateconcealshorten how far the food is, while a more vigorous dance —signalswastesignores a richer source.