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Sunday, October 9th, 2016

Bees pull some strings to spread learned skills

Author:     Michael Irving
Source:     New Atlas
Publication Date:     October 4th, 2016
 Link: Bees pull some strings to spread learned skills
Stephan:   Bees. Endlessly fascinating, and we have so much to learn about the matrix of life from them. Our understanding of the consciousness of other beings on this Earth is so very very shallow.  Here is a wonderful story that tells us "We found that when the appropriate social and ecological conditions are present, culture can be mediated by the use of a combination of simple forms of learning," says Sylvain Alem, lead author of the study. 'Thus, cultural transmission does not require the high cognitive sophistication specific to humans, nor is it a distinctive feature of humans.'"
Researchers at QMUL have discovered that bees can be taught to pull a string for food, a behavior previously thought too advanced for insects Credit: Depositphotos/Irochka

Researchers at QMUL have discovered that bees can be taught to pull a string for food, a behavior previously thought too advanced for insects
Credit: Depositphotos/Irochka

Apes and birds have long been known to demonstrate their intelligence by pulling a string to access food, but now researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have discovered that bumblebees can also learn the skill. Not only is this the first time insects have been seen to use this kind of strategy, but the trained bees also spread the ability throughout the colony, prompting questions about social learning, culture and intelligence in animals.

The researchers began with three artificial flowers containing sugar water and attached to pieces of string. These were placed under a clear Plexiglas panel with the strings poking out, to test whether the bees could work out how to solve the puzzle and get to the prize. Out of a […]

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