Honeybees have long amazed scientists with their “waggle dance,” a unique way of showing nestmates where to find food, water, or new nest sites. But new research suggests the dance is not just instinct, it’s learned.

In experiments, scientists raised young bees without older, experienced dancers to follow. These bees could still dance, but their moves were riddled with mistakes, wrong directions, distances, and confusing patterns. In contrast, bees who had “teachers” performed much more accurate dances from the start.

Interestingly, while the isolated bees improved with practice, they never corrected one major error: they consistently exaggerated distances. Researchers believe this may show how colonies develop local “dialects” based on their environment, passing them on like cultural knowledge.

This is the first clear evidence of complex social learning in insect communication. Much like humans, bees may rely on both instinct and teaching to master their language. Their buzzing dance floor, it turns out, is not just biology, it’s culture in motion.