about the episode

Bumblebees, just like us, exhibit social learning behavior and imitate each other. The researchers saw this in the puzzle experiment.

One bumblebee first learned to turn the lid on a transparent box slightly by pressing on one of two vertical tabs. As a result, he managed to get a sugar water reward.

Well, one tab on the cap was blue and the other red and the bumblebee was trained to always choose the same color. Then I was sent back to the colony. Now the rest can also try the puzzle. The researchers saw that almost all bumblebee species in the colony started pushing against the same color as the trained bee after a while. Even if they realize that the other color works too.

If a trained blue bee and a red bee are placed in the same colony, the colony has ultimately chosen one of the two colours. As if they would all rather follow a trend than something different for themselves. Almost (or maybe exactly) as in culture. In any case, it shows that what these bees do is not just instinctive, as the researchers believe.

If you want to protect or reintroduce an animal species, it is important to know that these processes play a role. Especially with species that do poorly like bees. If you want to help them, you must understand them first.

Want to know more about this research: Bumblebees learn new “trends” in their behavior by watching and learning.

You can find the search on navigation here: Bees follow linear landmarks to find their way home, just like the early pilots.

You can read more about biodiversity research here: Populations of bees and butterflies are decreasing, even in undisturbed forests.