How Bees Might Be Better at Cooperation Than Their Brains Would Otherwise Suggest

Amaze Lab

Bees are pretty amazing creatures. They have an interesting and structured social hierarchy, they produce honey and they pollinate our plants. Now a new study has revealed yet another incredible skill: they cooperate.

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00:00These are pretty amazing creatures. They have a structured social hierarchy. They produce honey

00:07and they pollinate our plants. Now a new study has revealed yet another incredible skill. They

00:12cooperate. Researchers wanted to see how these worker insects stacked up against the likes of

00:17much more intelligent creatures like dolphins, wolves and chimps. So they trained some bees to

00:21complete a task in exchange for a sugary reward. Finding that before coming back to complete the

00:26task again, they would wait for their partner who they had trained with before. As you can see here,

00:31despite identifying where the sugary treat is, the bee seems to loiter while its partner is held

00:35back by experimenters. When the other bee returns, however, they go straight towards the block of

00:39styrofoam and get their reward. In another test, with each bee in a separate clear tunnel, you can

00:44see more clearly each bee searching for their partner before attempting to complete a similar

00:48task. With the researchers writing as part of the study, quote, the study's findings challenge

00:53conventional notions of insects and the ability to work together towards a common goal is present,

00:58even in the miniature brain of bumblebees.

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