Their brains may be tiny, around the size of a sesame seed, but it turns out bees are smarter than you may think.
In research carried out by Clint J Perry, a cognitive neuroethologist (the study of animal brains) at Queen Mary University, London, he found they could count up to four, navigate complex environments and have memories and preferences for flowers.
Perry also found you can give bees new skills by teaching bumblebees how to perform complex tasks. Tests such as pulling a string to access sugar water, helps the bees to learn a new skill and then those bees can then teach other bees how to do it.
He commented – “We’re only in the early stages of understanding bee brains, but these findings make it even more important to protect them.”
Checkout this video, showing a bumblebee pulling a string to get a treat.
