Editing Bee learning and communication (section)

==Neurobiology of color vision==
[[Image:Western honey bee.jpg|thumb|alt=Western Honey Bee.|Western honey bee]]

A seminal paper by Menzel (1975) described the morphology and spectral sensitivity of the honey bee eye that underlie their color vision.<ref name="Menzel1975">{{cite journal | last1 = Menzel | first1 = R | last2 = Blakers | first2 = M | year = 1975 | title = Colour receptors in the bee eye — Morphology and spectral sensitivity | journal = Journal of Comparative Physiology A | volume = 108 | pages = 11–13 | doi=10.1007/bf00625437| s2cid = 2676212 }}</ref> He examined color-coding in the honey bee [[retina]] by marking individual cells with a fluorescent dye and recording from these cells as single units. From this analysis he determined that there are three types of receptors in the honey bee eye: 1) UV receptors, 2) blue receptors, and 3) green receptors The three receptors contain three rhodopsin-like pigments which have maximal absorbance at wavelengths of 350&nbsp;nm, 440&nbsp;nm, and 540&nbsp;nm. Menzel also found that most of the cells he studied had secondary sensitivities that corresponded to wavelength regions at which the other two receptor types were maximally active. He used spectral efficiency experiments to suggest that these secondary sensitivities result from electric coupling between the receptors.<ref name="Menzel1975"/>

Certain morphologies distinguished the receptor types.  [[UV]] cells were found to have long visual nerve fibers that penetrated the lamina with deep tree-like branchings.  Blue and green receptor cells had more shallow fibers.<ref name="Menzel1975"/>