Bees can use tools to solve problems, according to a study published in The Guardian. The research found that 75% of bees successfully reached a flower by rolling a polystyrene ball, challenging the assumption that insects operate purely on instinct and mindless trial-and-error learning.

Bees Show Problem-Solving Skills

The study involved an experiment adapted from one that, a century ago, demonstrated chimpanzees could retrieve an out-of-reach banana by stacking boxes, but Since then, various primates, elephants, and crows have joined an elite group known for this level of insight and spontaneous problem-solving. 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.

“Most people think insects are reflex-based machines,” said Dr Olli Loukola, a behavioural ecologist at the University of Oulu, Finland, and senior author. “That they can’t have any emotional states or feel pain. Some people don’t even realize that they have brains. I hope that these results change the worldview about that.”

Experimental Setup

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 – a behavioral sequence they had never previously encountered or been trained to perform.

In the most basic version of the test, 75% of the bees were successful in reaching the flower. “This is essentially an insect version of the classic ‘box-and-banana’ problem,” said Loukola.

Implications for Understanding Insect Cognition

The findings challenge the longstanding assumption that insects operate purely on instinct and mindless trial-and-error learning. According to the study, these results could lead to a shift in how people perceive the cognitive abilities of insects. “They surprise me every time,” Loukola added, highlighting the ongoing discoveries about the complex behaviors of insects.