How bees see the world
Why is bee vision so different to that of humans? Their compound eyes are adapted to help them find flowers. Try this quick experiment and find out what it's like to see like a bee.
Bees have five eyes – three small eyes on top, and two large ones on the side of their heads. The two main eyes are known as 'compound eyes'. Many insects and crustaceans have compound eyes, which are made up of thousands of simple eye cells with individual lenses (like a collection of 'mini eyes').
To get an idea of what it's like having many eyes, try this quick experiment:
Steps
- Grab a bunch of straws (at least 20) and tie them together with a string around the middle.
- Cover one eye with your hand, and hold the straw bundle up to your open eye. What does the world look like looking through individual 'mini eyes'?
How does the world look when viewed through many 'eyes'?
We aren’t used to seeing this way, and the picture is certainly blurrier. But a bees brain stitches together the many images of the compound eye to provide a wider field of vision along with more detail about colour, movement and patterns.