Scientists have discovered that bumblebees “actually can learn to use a new tool by watching others,” says the Los Angeles Times. The results “add to a growing body of work showing that these kinds of smarts aren’t limited to bigger-brained, vertebrate animals (such as humans).” The research, published in the journal Science, went beyond so-called swarm intelligence to look at the capacity of individual bees.
Experiments have shown that bees are more capable than thought. For their paper, the researchers tested whether the bees could learn something that has no analogue to their lives as foragers. In this case, the challenge was to roll a yellow ball into a hole in order to receive the reward of a sugar solution. “The scientists used a fake bee mounted on a transparent stick to show the insects what to do. Over 10 rounds, the bees finished the task faster and more efficiently, taking shorter paths to get the ball to its goal,” says the Los Angeles Times.
The next round was tougher – there were three balls, two of them glued in place, and the bees were divided into groups. Some saw a trained bee move the ball, some saw the ball moved by a magnet and some got no instruction. When they were tested, “the bees who watched an expert successfully made a hole-in-one in 99% of their trials and took the least time to do it — an average of 47 seconds.” The researchers said the bees also found ways to improve the routine of moving the ball. Scientists said the advanced learning skills displayed by the bumblebees could prove helpful when they encounter changes in their habitat due to climate change, reported the Los Angeles Times.