Bumblebees get straight As in learning tests

We may already know that bumblebees have amazing powers of navigation and a complex social structure, but tests have shown that they are also expert puzzle solvers too.

The study introduced bees to flowers with progressively more difficult ways of getting to the sugar syrup inside, but the bees mostly were able to reach their reward.

The case for bees being able to learn from their mistakes was made even stronger by the fact that bees presented only with the most challenging flower we’re not able to reach the reward, meaning that the bees who worked their way up were able to learn from their experiences.

A second study involved bees watching a group of other bees getting to the syrup via a complex method, then being released into the area themselves. These bees took much less time to get to their reward than bees that hadn’t watched the experienced bees. This shows bees can learn from their peers.

These studies show that the social structure and puzzle solving abilities of bees is greater than ever before thought.