Bumblebees can use tools to solve a problem, according to experiments that demonstrate their remarkably advanced cognitive abilities.<\/p>\n
The bees were given an adapted version of an experiment that, 100 years ago, first demonstrated chimpanzees could work out how to retrieve an out-of-reach banana by stacking boxes. Since then, various other primates, elephants and crows have joined an elite cohort of species known to be capable of this level of insight and spontaneous problem solving.<\/p>\n
In the latest research, bees were shown to be able to roll a polystyrene ball to a specific location and climb on to it in order to access an artificial flower on a low ceiling. The findings challenge the longstanding assumption that insects operate purely on instinct and mindless trial-and-error learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people think insects are reflex-based machines,\u201d said Dr Olli Loukola, a behavioural ecologist at the University of Oulu, Finland, and senior author. \u201cThat they can\u2019t have any emotional states or feel pain. Some people don\u2019t even realise that they have brains. I hope that these results change the worldview about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bees, which were only a couple of weeks old, were first trained to associate a blue artificial flower with a reward of sugar water. During the test, the flower was moved to the ceiling of a transparent petri dish-style chamber whose ceiling was too high for them to reach, but with insufficient space for them to hover. A ball was also introduced into the chamber. To reach the flower, the bee had to roll the ball under it and climb on top \u2013 a behavioural sequence they had never previously encountered or been trained to perform.<\/p>\n
In the most basic version of the test, 75% of the bees were successful in reaching the flower. \u201cThis is essentially an insect version of the classic \u2018box-and-banana\u2019 problem,\u201d said Loukola. \u201cThe animal must realise that an object can be repositioned and then used as a tool to reach an otherwise inaccessible goal. What stands out about the result is that this kind of spontaneous problem solving is now demonstrated in an insect.\u201d<\/p>\n