Honeybees returning from a food source perform a figure-of-eight movement known as the waggle dance, through which they communicate both the direction and the distance of the source to their nestmates. Direction is encoded relative to the sun: the angle of the dance on the vertical comb corresponds to the angle between the food source and the sun's position. Distance is conveyed by the duration of the waggle phase. Remarkably, bees adjust their dances over the course of the day to compensate for the sun's movement across the sky, and they can even use the pattern of polarised light on overcast days when the sun itself is hidden.