Bumblebees Are Intelligent Learners: New String-Pulling Study Shows Fast Learning, Cultural Transmission In Insects

Research has found that bumblebees are capable of learning how to pull strings in exchange of a reward -- specifically food -- and also pass on the ability to do so to other bees. This reportedly marks the first instance where this experiment to test intelligence has proved successful with an insect. The study, by researchers from the Queen Mary University of London, was published Tuesday in the journal PLOS Biology and showed that certain "innovator bees" were able to pull a string to reach sugar water by themselves and in turn, train their "naïve" counterparts to do the same. "We found that when the appropriate social and ecological conditions are present, culture can be mediated by the use of a combination of simple forms of learning," lead author Sylvain Alem said in a press release. "Thus, cultural transmission does not require the high cognitive sophistication specific to humans, nor is it a distinctive feature of humans."