The honey bee’s brain might be the size of a sesame seed, but it sure does work on overdrive! Bees can identify various colours and smells which assist in their highly sophisticated communication and problem-solving abilities.
A few fun facts
- Research has shown that bees learn best in the morning when flower nectar levels are highest. No sleep in’s for these busy bees!
- Bees have their own communication code, which takes the form of a ‘dance’ called the ‘waggle.’ Boogie on little guys!
- Bees can do complicated calculations to determine the distance between landmarks. Like tiny, buzzing GPS’!
A tiny teaching community
Scientists in Britain have managed to teach bees how to pull strings to get food. Furthermore, they have witnessed these bees teaching their mates how to grab a feed by doing the same thing! It was discovered that bees have the ability to pass on knowledge and skills to survive, a trait termed “culture spread.”
Headbutting bees
Ever been headbutted? If it wasn’t while playing sport, the chances are that someone was trying to non-verbally teach you a thing or two! Bees headbutt each other to show dominance or get the point across too! Scouts are headbutted when they refuse to follow the majority vote for a new hive location (when 15 or more bees start buzzing around the location in a consensus of approval). The headbutting continues until they fall into line. Scouts are also headbutted when they’re found to be giving out directions to dangerous food locations – you wouldn’t want to make too many mistakes as a bee!
Hey, Mr. Bee, why so blue?
Recent evidence has even shown that bees could be capable of emotion and personality. Research has revealed that some bees prefer particular hive tasks over others and that some are more prone to risk-taking. These bees showed patterns of gene activity in molecular pathways not uncommon from that of thrill-seeking humans!
Scientists are even speculating that bees can have emotional reactions. Studies have shown that bees can become decidedly ‘pessimistic’ during lab experiments. Cheer up bumblebee!
Nurturing bee culture
So it would appear that bees aren’t so different from ourselves! And like humans, bee communication and intelligence can be affected by unfamiliar chemicals. Make sure to plant your pollinating flowers further from your home and in flower beds separated from your turf, so that when spraying for harmful pests such as cockroaches and fire ants, we can keep these busy little fellas safe!
