Brilliant bees master complex tasks by watching their friends

By Imogen Howse via SWNS

A breakthrough discovery has shown that bees learn how to master complex tasks by watching their friends – an ability thought to be unique to humans.

Scientists have discovered that bees possess ‘advanced social learning’ skills, meaning they can figure out how to do something new by interacting with others.

Previously, this level of cognitive sophistication was thought to only be found in humans, but the new study, published in the journal Nature, has opened new avenues for understanding the intelligence of insects and the wider animal kingdom.

The research team from Queen Mary University in London designed a two-step puzzle box that required bumblebees to perform two distinct actions in sequence in order to receive a reward.

Scientists had to train the bees to complete the challenge – with some helped by the addition of an extra reward along the way.

However, the researchers eventually removed the extra treat, and the bees had to master the entire challenge by themselves to receive their reward.

The experiment revealed that while bees acting alone struggled to solve the puzzle when starting from scratch, those allowed to observe a trained ‘demonstrator’ bee easily learned the sequence and achieved their reward.

“Our new study demonstrates that bumblebees possess a level of social learning previously thought to be exclusive to humans,” said co-author Dr. Alice Bridges.

“They can share and acquire behaviors that are beyond their individual cognitive capabilities: an ability thought to underpin the expansive, complex nature of human culture.”

Discussing the significance of this, she continued: “This is an extremely difficult task for bees.

“They had to learn two steps to get the reward, with the first behavior in the sequence unrewarded.

“We initially needed to train demonstrator bees with a temporary reward included, highlighting the complexity.

“Yet, other bees learned the whole sequence from social observation of these trained bees, even without ever experiencing the first step's reward.

“In contrast, when we let other bees attempt to open the box without a trained bee to demonstrate the solution, they didn’t manage to open any at all.”

Dr. Bridges added that, in addition to revealing new knowledge about bees, the research paper also provides new possibilities for understanding the evolution of social learning among animals.

“We can see the emergence of cumulative culture in the animal kingdom – something which refers to the gradual accumulation of knowledge and skills over generations,” she said.

“The bees’ ability to learn such a complex task from a ‘demonstrator’ suggests a potential pathway for cultural transmission, development, and innovation beyond their individual learning capabilities.”

Meanwhile, co-author Professor Lars Chittka explained that the new findings also challenge the long-held belief that only humans can use social learning to master tasks beyond individual learning.

This, she said, opens up questions about which skills and behaviors insects and other animals have learned by instinct – and which ones they have learned by copying each other.

“Our new findings raise the fascinating possibility that many of the most remarkable accomplishments of the social insects, like the nesting architectures of bees and wasps or the agricultural habits of aphid-farming and fungus-farming ants, may have initially spread by copying of clever innovators before they eventually became part of the species-specific behavior repertoires,” she said.

“So, this research could pave the way for further exploration of the cognitive wonders hidden within the insect world, and even hints at the exciting possibility of cumulative culture amongst seemingly simple creatures.”