The numerate honey bee

January 28, 2009

The remarkable honey bee can tell the difference between different numbers at a glance. A fresh, astonishing revelation about the 'numeracy' of insects has emerged from new research by an international team of scientists from The Vision Centre, in Australia, published January 28 in the online, open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE.

In an exquisitely designed experiment, researchers led by Dr. Shaowu Zhang, Chief Investigator of The Vision Centre and Australian National University and Professor Hans Gross and Professor Juergen Tautz of Wurzburg University in Germany, have shown that bees can discriminate between patterns containing two and three dots - without having to count the dots.

And, with a bit of schooling, they can learn to tell the difference between three and four dots.

However at four, bee maths seems to run out: the team found their honeybees couldn't reliably tell the difference between four dots and five or six.

In the study, the bees flew though an entry of a Y-maze marked with a pattern of either two or three dots, which were signposts to the reward. They then had to choose between two patterns by correctly matching the number of dots, to find where the reward was - a feat they then managed to repeat reliably once they had learned that two dots at the first entry meant they had to look for two dots at one of the second pair of patterns, where the reward was hidden.

Careful control over the experimental environment showed the bees were not using colour, smell or other clues to find their way to the hidden sugar-water reward, says Dr. Zhang.

"My colleague Professor Srinivasan has demonstrated that bees can count up to four landmarks on their way from their hive to a food source. This new research shows they can tell the difference between different numbers - even when we change the pattern, shape or the colour of the dots!"

Presenting blue and yellow dots, stars and lemons, or random patterns didn't fool the clever insects, which continued to reliably navigate their way to the reward once they had figured out and memorised what the signs meant, based on number.

To begin with, the bees spent quite a bit of time scanning the dots. On later visits they zipped straight past them, once they knew what they meant.

"Bees can definitely recognise the difference between two, three and four - although four a little less reliably. This is a process known as 'subitizing' - which means responding rapidly to a small number of items.

"We think the bees are using two memory systems," Dr. Zhang says. "First is working memory, which they use to recall the number of dots that point to the reward. The second system is to use memory rules. We found this out by changing the pattern of the dots - but the bees still managed to locate the reward."

The experiment also demonstrates the remarkable learning power of social insects, which have to go out foraging over long distances - the Vision Centre team has tracked bees over distances as great as 11 kilometres - and then find their back to the hive, and out to the food source again reliably.

Dr. Zhang says the ability to discriminate between different numbers is part of this navigation, perhaps as bees pass clumps of two trees or three trees on their way to the food source, or use similar patterns among flowers or other landmarks as they draw close to it.

"There has been a lot of evidence that vertebrates, such as pigeons, dolphins or monkeys, have some numerical competence - but we never expected to find such abilities in insects. Our feeling now is that - so far as these very basic skills go - there is probably no boundary between insects, animals and us."

The tantalising question is whether bees can actually perform elementary arithmetic - and Shaowu and his colleagues are already planning an experiment to explore it.

The team's paper "Number-based visual generalization in the honeybee" appears in the international scientific journal PLoS ONE January 28.

Public Library of Science

---

---

	The Beekeeper's Bible: Bees, Honey, Recipes & Other Home Uses by Richard A. Jones (Author), Sharon Sweeney-Lynch (Author) The Beekeeper’s Bible is as much an ultimate guide to the practical essentials of beekeeping as it is a beautiful almanac to be read from cover to cover. Part history book, part handbook, and part cookbook, this illustrated tome covers every facet of the ancient hobby of beekeeping, from how to manage hives safely to harvesting one's own honey, and ideas for how to use honey and beeswax. Detailed instructions for making candles, furniture polish, beauty products, and nearly 100 honey-themed recipes are included. Fully illustrated with how-to photography and unique etchings, any backyard enthusiast or gardener can confidently dive into beekeeping with this book in hand (or daydream about harvesting their own honey while relaxing in the comfort of an armchair). Praise for The...
	Keeping Bees And Making Honey by Alison Benjamin (Author), Brian McCallum (Author) You don't need acres of secluded gardens to be able to keep bees - hives can be found on many an urban rooftop, inner-city balcony or mounted on walls in the strangest of places. Keeping Bees and Making Honey covers everything you need to consider before you set up your colony - including when and how to tell the neighbors.Packed with images, information, practical advice, recipes and gardening tips, Keeping Bees and Making Honey is the ideal companion for every aspiring beekeeper.
	The Bee Book For Beginners: An Apiculture Starter or How To Be A Backyard Beekeeper And Harvest Honey From Your Own Bee Hives (Backyard Farm Books) by 3D4T The #1 Amazon Besteller in both featured categories, 'Entomology' and 'Insects & Spiders' Hello! Thankyou for taking the time to look at my book. If you have a taste for honey or an adventurous side, maybe you have thought of becoming a beekeeper. What would you really be in for, though? Is it really a job, or is it a fun way to get your own honey? Well, it's really both.   Being a beekeeper is a lot of work, but it also has a lot of benefits. Anyone can do it, as long as they know to be prepared. You can't just wake up one day and decided to be a beekeeper and start immediately without knowing what you are doing. That's why I have written this book. Within its pages, you will find out what tools you need to be a beekeeper, what to expect...
	Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees (Hobby Farm) by Norman Gary (Author) Bee keeping isn't just for the professional farmer—bees can be kept in any situation from the simple backyard patio and garden to large expanses of farm land. This comprehensive and attractive beekeeping guide, from Hobby Farm Press, the same people who bring you Hobby Farms and Hobby Farm Home magazine, Beekeeping takes readers from finding their bees, housing them, collecting honey and using their produce for pleasure and possible profit. This colorful book, including entertaining chapters on the history of bees and beekeeping, serves as an extensive introduction to help novice beekeepers fully understand this exciting hobby!
	The Biology of the Honey Bee by Mark L. Winston (Author) From ancient cave paintings of honey bee nests to modern science's richly diversified investigation of honey bee biology and its applications, the human imagination has long been captivated by the mysterious and highly sophisticated behavior of this paragon among insect societies. In the first broad treatment of honey bee biology to appear in decades, Mark Winston provides rare access to the world of this extraordinary insect. In a bright and engaging style Winston probes the dynamics of the honey bee's social organization. He recreates for us the complex infrastructure of the nest, describes the highly specialized behavior of workers, queens, and drones, and examines in detail the remarkable ability of the honey bee colony to regulate its functions according to events within and...
	Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee A Bee Keeper's Manual by Public Domain Books This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
	Honeybee Democracy by Thomas D. Seeley (Author) Honeybees make decisions collectively--and democratically. Every year, faced with the life-or-death problem of choosing and traveling to a new home, honeybees stake everything on a process that includes collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and consensus building. In fact, as world-renowned animal behaviorist Thomas Seeley reveals, these incredible insects have much to teach us when it comes to collective wisdom and effective decision making. A remarkable and richly illustrated account of scientific discovery, Honeybee Democracy brings together, for the first time, decades of Seeley's pioneering research to tell the amazing story of house hunting and democratic debate among the honeybees. In the late spring and early summer, as a bee colony becomes overcrowded, a third of the hive...
	The Life and Times of the Honeybee by Charles Micucci (Author) This witty and informative salute to the honeybee uses clear, lively text and detailed full-color illustrations to present a wide range of interesting, and sometimes amusing, facts about the life cycle, work, and history of one of the world's most useful insects.
	In the Trees, Honey Bees! by Lori Mortensen (Author), Cris Arbo (Illustrator) Here is the ideal introduction for preschoolers and early elementary children to insects that are not only amazing but also critically important to humans. Inside-the-hive views of a wild colony of honey bees offer close-ups of the queen, the cells, even bee eggs. Simple verse will engage a young child, while sidebars with fascinating information satisfy the somewhat older child. Parents, teachers, and interested children will enjoy much more information about both wild and domestic hives in the back of the book. The detailed art shimmers with life, highlighting each hair or grain of pollen on the bees. A wild hive in a tree in her own backyard served as a model for the artist!
	The Beekeeper's Lament: How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America by Hannah Nordhaus (Author) The honey bee is a willing conscript, a working wonder, an unseen and crucial link in America's agricultural industry. But never before has its survival been so unclear—and the future of our food supply so acutely challenged. Enter beekeeper John Miller, who trucks his hives around the country, bringing millions of bees to farmers otherwise bereft of natural pollinators. Even as the mysterious and deadly epidemic known as Colony Collapse Disorder devastates bee populations across the globe, Miller forges ahead with the determination and wry humor of a true homespun hero. The Beekeeper's Lament tells his story and that of his bees, making for a complex, moving, and unforgettable portrait of man in the new natural world.