Bumblebees have repeatedly demonstrated the remarkable abilities for both individual and social learning. Are they more like us than we thought or just very good at being bumblebees? <\/p>
Recent experiments show that bumblebees join a select group of animals \u2013 mostly primates and birds \u2013 capable of passing on new behaviours by cultural transmission.<\/p>\n
The study tested buff-tailed bumblebees<\/a>\u2019 ability to learn to open sugar-filled containers, a challenge that had two, equally-effective, possible solutions. Inexperienced bees learned the task faster if they\u2019d watched an experienced one complete it first. And the solution eventually adopted by the colony was the same as the one demonstrated initially.<\/p>\n \u201cThis result mirrors almost exactly what we see in great tits, chimpanzees and vervet monkeys,\u201d says Alice Bridges of Queen Mary University of London<\/a>, lead-author of the research paper published in PLOS Biology<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n Bumblebees are perhaps unlikely cultural animals. And not only because their brains are only one hundred-thousandth the size of our own. While it\u2019s the workers that learn these new skills, only the queens survive the winter and reproduce. Social learning might aid problem-solving during a colony\u2019s lifespan, but when it dies, all is forgotten.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really amazing, when you think about it like that, that they\u2019re able to do this at all, because what\u2019s the point?\u201d muses Bridges.<\/p>\n However, such knowledge might be more enduring in other bees, she says. \u201cMany species have multiple generations and multiple queens in the same hive to provide cultural continuity.\u201d<\/p>\n More bumblebee content:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Bumblebee guide: why they\u2019re fluffy, where they nest, and how to help them<\/a><\/p>\n How butterflies and bumblebees know when to emerge from winter<\/a><\/p>\n Best plants for bumblebees<\/a><\/p>\n Why do we find dead bumblebees under lime trees?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Bridges points to a significant difference between human culture and that demonstrated in her experiments. The bees\u2019 task wasn\u2019t so complicated that individuals couldn\u2019t work it out for themselves eventually. Humans, though, can learn tasks that would be impossible without help. \u201cIt\u2019s widely thought to be something only humans can do, although the jury\u2019s still out,\u201d says Bridges.<\/p>\n As for whether bumblebees are more like ourselves than we thought, Bridges believes this risks missing the wood for the trees. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason for a bee to be like a human, just like there\u2019s no reason for a human to be like a bee. They live completely different lives; they\u2019ve faced completely different selection pressures. You might as well say a dolphin<\/a> is just like a horse<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Main image: Buff-tailed bumblebee \u00a9 Valter Jacinto\/Getty\u00a0<\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Bumblebees have repeatedly demonstrated the remarkable abilities for both individual and social learning. 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