![\"Slow-motion](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783375149_483_1919.jpg\")
Slow-motion footage of bumblebees shows how they react when they \u2018like\u2019 or \u2018dislike\u2019 things \u2013 video<\/p>\nWhen bumblebees taste something good, they reach out their glossa \u2013 or insect tongue \u2013 for a while afterwards, almost as if they are licking their lips. And when they don\u2019t like something, the insects will shake their heads and wipe their mouths.<\/p>\n
Scientists who captured the miniature facial expressions on slow-motion video say the behaviour is consistent with \u201cliking\u201d and \u201cdisliking\u201d responses observed in mammals. Their results have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n
In the study, a collaboration between Macquarie University and the Southern Medical University in China, researchers presented bumblebees with droplets of different solutions \u2013 60% sugar, 20% sugar, plain water, 5% salt, or quinine (at a concentration of 1 millimolar) \u2013 and recorded their reactions.<\/p>\n
Prof Andrew Barron, who researches insect behaviour at Macquarie University and who co-authored the paper, said under normal conditions the bees displayed something called \u201cpost-consumption glossa\u201d after tasting the sweet solution: they kept on licking even after they\u2019d finished drinking.<\/p>\n
In contrast, they showed clear distaste for salt or quinine solutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cFacial expressions are an important window into the internal states of animals,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we found is that bees show responses with their mouthparts to solutions that indicate their subjective like or dislike of those solutions. It tells us there is an inner life to the insect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Slow-motion footage of bumblebees shows how they react when they \u2018like\u2019 or \u2018dislike\u2019 things \u2013 video<\/p>\n
Without language, evidence for pleasure or pain is challenging to establish in other animals. So scientists study behavioural markers, such as facial expressions, to gauge positive and negative experiences.<\/p>\n
Previous studies have shown that mammals, such as primates and rats, display clear signs of \u201cliking\u201d such as licking and sticking out their tongues, and \u201cdisliking\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a rat gets a salty taste it doesn\u2019t like, it wipes its mouth parts, wipes its whiskers, wipes its tongue,\u201d Barron said. \u201cAnd we see something similar in a bee.\u201d<\/p>\n
But while similar findings in mammals were readily accepted, in insects such as bees the concept of an inner life remained \u201chighly controversial\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
To make sure they were not just observing a chemical reflex, the scientists tested responses with 18 colonies under a range of circumstances, including when the bees were heat-stressed, already full, or given doses of different drugs.<\/p>\n
In insects such as bees, the concept of an inner life remains \u2018highly controversial\u2019, Prof Andrew Barron says. Photograph: The Bee Lab at Southern Medical University<\/p>\n
The bees\u2019 reactions depended on context. For example, heat exposure changed their response to water or salty solutions from neutral or averse reactions to positive.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782377121_317_2998.jpg\")
<\/p>\n