When scientists realized that bees make use of the Sun, they began researching how they find their way. First of all, the bee's eye was examined, and was found to possess a structure that allows these calculations to be performed.

At the far left, the bee’s head, with a single ommatidia to the side. On the outside of each of these is a transparent, convex lens. As well as the compound eyes on either side of their heads, bees also have three simple eyes, or ocelli (far left).
To the left, a cross-section of the bee’s eye. The ommatidia (small eyes) can clearly be seen in the form of long lines. Each can perform the function of a separate eye and stand parallel like straws in a jar. Each of these eyes faces a slightly different direction from the others. At the far left, a cross-section of one of these components.

The worker bee's eye is a very complex organ with 6,900 facets, known as ommatidia, each carrying out separate visual processes. Each one of these acts like an individual eye, and they stand aligned together, rather like straws in a bucket. Each one ends in a small, convex, transparent lens.86 These lenses form the outer, glassy and oval-shaped surface of the eye. As well as the two compound eyes on either side of their head, a bee also has three simple eyes atop its head. It's estimated that these latter three are used to measure the strength of the light. The bee's eye is superior to the human eye in two respects: it can see ultraviolet light and perceive the plane of light polarization.87

These are the features that let bees determine the location and angles of the Sun. Thanks to them, they're able to correct the directions they give to other hive members and find their targets without error as the Sun moves through the sky.

Thanks to the special structure in their eyes, bees setting out in search of food can easily make out the flowers before them, just like the lights of an airport runway.

The bee’s eye is created to perceive ultraviolet rays. In this way, ultraviolet light reflected from the petals of flowers give flying bees the full coordinates of the pollen.

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• 86. Mark L. Winston, The Biology of the Honey Bee, p.15
• 87. Encyclopedia Americana, 1993, p.439

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