Flight of the Honey Reading Answers

Dec 22, 2022

Flight of the Honey Reading Answers is a passage on the process of making honey by the honeybees for IELTS general training reading. This Flight of the Honey IELTS reading passage is from IELTS general training Cambridge test 6. The Flight of the Honey Reading Answers comes with 12 questions and 3 question types can be found here: Choose the correct answer, Fill in the blanks with not more than 2 words, and True/False. Flight of Honey is originally taken from Honeybee Navigation and this is an article about team building and other daily works of honeybees. Candidates need to go through the passage and remember the important points. This will help them answer questions accordingly. Candidates get a wide range of topics in IELTS reading practice papers.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Flight of the Honey Reading Answers

You should spend 20 minutes on Question 1-12 which are based on the Reading Passage below.

Honeybees are characterized by their ability to produce honey and a propensity to construct colonial nests using wax, two tasks that neecessiate a significant level of social integration among members. As a result, they maintain strict divisions of labor, based on sex, with all males functioning as drones to fertilize and care for the eggs, and all females with the exception of the single fertile queen, responsible for fetching nectar for the colony’s progeny. In addition, honeybees have devised a sophisticated system of communication to relay important information from member to member.
Perhaps the most intriguing feature of honeybee communication is a series of flight moves only performed by a female worker bee that has returned to the nest with nectar and needs to tell the rest of her colony that she has discovered food supplies and where they can be found.This so called honeybee dance was first interpreted by German Zoologist Karl von Frisch in early 1970’s. To facilitate observation, von Frisch and his students built several galss-walled hives and marked a collection of worker bees, or foragers, with paint. He then trained those foragers to find nectar at designated sources at various distances from the hives, and when the bees returned, he carefully recorded their movements, the angle and direction of their flight, and any visual cues offered to the colony. What von Frisch discovered was that each aspect of the dance indicated certain details about the location of the nectar reserves and recruited others to return the site.
The first piece of information conveyed by dancing bees is the distance of the field to the hive, and they do this in one of the three ways. If it is less than 50 meters from the colony’s nest the bee will fly around in narrow circles, and then suddenly fly in the opposite direction. She will repeat this pattern, which von Frisch’s team called the round dance until she has recruited several other workers to return with her to the field. When the distance Is greater than 50 meters, but less than 150 meters the forager will act out a waggle dance in which she will run straight ahead briefly before returning to her original position in a semi-circular movement. Then she will run forward again and return from the opposite side. The length of the forward run coincides with the distance of food supplies: for example a 2.5 second run indicates that the nectar was found about 2500 meters away.
Recruits also need to know the direction in which they should fly to arrive at the appropriate foraging location, and this information is communicated via the bee’s angular orientation to the hive. It, however it is not a direct connection to the position of the food supplies from the hive, but its location relative to the sun. Therefore if the food is situated directly opposite from the sun, it will fly directly upward from the colony nest.A position 60 degrees to the right of the sun will prompt the bee to fly downwards at a 60 degree angle toward the right of the nest. Moreover, because the sun is in constant motion throughout the day, the bee’s orientation will shift depending on the time at which the dance is performed. Sceptics of von Frisch’s findings, however, claim that visual cues are not enough to provide all the clues necessary to convey the location of a food resource. Several scientists, among them Adrian Wenner, believe that the dance is only one component of honeybee communications; odour is the second key element. Using robotic bees to perform the same dances, Wenner was unable to attract new recruits to the foraging activities; however, when he added a bit of nectar to the robot, workers quickly followed. He also discovered that the oduors must be representative of the actual flowers containing the food source: otherwise, the bees will arrive at the site, but not know which ones will be profitable.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 1-3:
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

Honeybees-

Have a rudimentary ability to convey information.
have clearly segregated roles.
Are found in equal numbers of male and female.
Often relocate to areas with certain types of flowers.

Answer: B
Supporting sentence: As a result, they maintain strict divisions of labor, based on sex, with all males functioning as drones to fertilize and care for the eggs, and all females with the exception of the single fertile queen, responsible for fetching nectar for the colony’s progeny.
Keywords: strict divisions of labor, based on sex
Keyword Location: Paragraph A
Explanation: Honeybees have clearly segregated roles inside the hives. The reason behind this is honeybees maintain strict divisions of labour based on sex. All male honeybees work as labour to maintain their hives. Females are responsible for fetching nectar. So, it is clear that the honeybees have different roles to play and their roles differ from each other.

Research conducted in the 1970s-

was undertaken using traditional hives.
Determined that forager bees had special markings.
Closely studied the phenomenon of the honeybee body language.
Concluded that there was no discernable pattern to the movement of the bees.

Answer: C
Supporting sentence: This so-called honeybee dance was first interpreted by German Zoologist Karl von Frisch in early 1970’s.
Keywords: honeybee dance, honeybee communication
Location in the passage: Paragraph B
Explanation: Research conducted in the 1970s closely studied the phenomenon of the honeybee body language. Honeybees have a language of dance and it was first noticed by German Zoologist Karl von Frisch with his students. The time was the early 1970s. It is quite natural that the honeybees while working inside the hive will communicate with each other and this survey highlights this language.

To identify that the source of nectar is close, forager bees-

will repeatedly fly the same direction.
will begin to move only when other bees are watching.
will run straight forward.
will repeat a pattern of flying in one direction then abruptly reversing direction.

Answer: D
Supporting sentence: If it is less than 50 meters from the colony’s nest the bee will fly around in narrow circles, and then suddenly fly in the opposite direction.
Keywords: fly in the opposite direction, repeat this pattern, round dance
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: The honeybees will fly around in a narrow circle, and then suddenly fly in opposite directions. To identify that the source of nectar is close, forager bees will repeat a pattern of flying in one direction and then abruptly reversing direction. The design of the flying direction drags the honeybees to the initial source of nectar. The honeybees are smart enough to reverse the direction after coming back to their hives to go back to the source again.

Questions 4-8

Complete the sentences below USING NO MORE THAN TWO AND/OR A NUMBER.

Write your answers in boxes 4-8 on your answer sheet.

Von Frisch focussed on a number of ________________clues to deduce how bees communicated.

Answer: Visual
Supporting sentence: Sceptics of von Frisch’s findings, however, claim that visual cues are not enough to provide all the clues necessary to convey the location of a food resource.
Keywords: one component of honeybee communications, visual cues, convey the location of a food
Location in the passage: Paragraph D
Explanation: von Frisch’s findings, however, claim that visual cues are not enough to provide all the clues necessary. These visual clues helped Von Frisch to come to a compact outcome of the research on the communication system of honeybees. Initially, it was claimed that these clues are not that enough to understand the resources of the honeybees, but these are enough to denote the communication.

The bee will move forward for one________________ for every 1000 metres away the food source is.

Answer: Second
Supporting sentence: The length of the forward run coincides with the distance of food supplies: for example a 2.5 second run indicates that the nectar was found about 2500 meters away.
Keywords: 2.5 second run, 2500 meters away.
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: The length of the forward run coincides with the distance of the food supplies; for example, a 2.5-second run indicates that the nectar was found about 2500 meters away. As per this calculation, the bee will move forward for one second for every 1000 metres away the food source is. The time depends on the location of the food.

To locate the direction of the nectar, the forager will base its movements on the position of ________________ .

Answer: The Sun
Supporting sentence: It, however it is not a direct connection to the position of the food supplies from the hive, but its location relative to the sun.
Keywords: directly opposite from the sun, right of the sun will prompt the bee to fly downwards
Keyword Location: Paragraph D
Explanation: It is an indirect connection to the position of the food supplies from the hive, but its location relative to the sun. This position is very important to locate where the nectar is. The movements of the forager are based on where the sun is and to a great extent, it can be claimed that it is a sun controlled movement. This is something very complex, yet the bees manage this smartly.

For food sources over 150 metres away, the forager will indicate distance with a _____________ dance.

Answer: Waggle
Supporting sentence: When the distance Is greater than 50 meters, but less than 150 meters the forager will act out a waggle dance in which she will run straight ahead briefly before returning to her original position in a semi-circular movement.
Keywords: greater than 50 meters, but less than 150 meters, waggle dance, run straight ahead, original position in a semi-circular movement
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: If the field is farther than 150 meters, the forager will act out a waggle dance. Waggle dance indicates that the location of the food is not very far away - rather it indicates that the food is pretty near to their hives. To be specific, waggle dance can be seen when the location of the food is between 50 meters to 150 meters.

It has been argued that ________________ as well as movement may help to locate food sources.

Answer: Odour
Supporting sentence: Several scientists, among them Adrian Wenner, believe that the dance is only one component of honeybee communications; odour is the second key element.
Keywords: odour is the second key element.
Keyword Location: Paragraph D
Explanation: Adrian Wenner among a number of scientists believed that the dance is the only component of honeybee communications; odour is the second key element. A number of researches are done to understand the pattern and signs of the movements of the honeybees. It is proved that movements are not the only factor to track the location of the food. Right after movements, odour is the second most important factor here.

Questions 9-12

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage?
In boxes 9 -12 on your answer sheet write

TRUE, if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE, if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN, if there is no information on this

Drone bees communicate using a complicated set of movements.

Answer: False
Supporting sentence: and all females with the exception of the single fertile queen, responsible for fetching nectar for the colony’s progeny.
Keywords: all females, honeybees, sophisticated system of communication to relay important information
Keyword Location: Paragraph A
Explanation: Only the female forager communicates using a complicated set of movements. In a hive, males and females have segregated roles to play. Depending on the tasks they have, their way of communicating with each other varies. The responsibility of the female ones is to collect nectar and while doing this, they use a complex set of movements to interact.

The honeybee dance is performed until a number of other bees join in the collection of the nectar.

Answer: True
Supporting sentence: She will repeat this pattern, which von Frisch’s team called the round dance until she has recruited several other workers to return with her to the field.
Keywords: she has recruited several, return with her to the field
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: This statement clearly aligns with the information given in the passage. In paragraph C, it is mentioned that the honeybee will repeat the process of dancing. It needs mention that the dance is dependent on the distance of the location of the food. The research of von Frisch reveals that the honeybee is free from her tasks and recruits several other workers to return with her to the field before starting the dance.

The honeybee dance is only performed when the sun is visible.

Answer: Not given

Wenner concluded that a matching smell will help bees find the rough area of the nectar but not the specific source.

Answer: False
Supporting sentence: Several scientists, among them Adrian Wenner, believe that the dance is only one component of honeybee communications.
Keywords: odour is the second key element.
Keyword Location: Paragraph D
Explanation: Odour must be representative of the actual flowers containing the food source; otherwise, the bees will arrive at the site, but not know which ones will be profitable. The importance of smell comes after the movements. Their movement is the first thing that can keep a rough idea of the nectar. It is clearly mentioned as the second key element here.

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