A new study finds that bumble bees like to play with toys for fun, suggesting that their minds are 'far more sophisticated than we might imagine.'
have shown that the black and yellow bugs are willing to learn new tricks in exchange for food or other rewards, so in this case Chittka and his team set out to create conditions that would eliminate external variables. They made sure that the bees had acclimated to their new home and that their environment was stress free.
In one experiment, the bees, which were tracked by age and sex, could make their way through an unobstructed path to a feeding area or opt for a detour into a chamber with the wooden balls. Many took the detour. Video shows the chubby insects clinging to balls and maneuvering them around. In more comical moments, some bees appeared to do somersaults while holding on. Other times they would walk in reverse, pulling the ball with them — an unnatural movement for bumblebees.
"There are lots of animals who play just for the purposes of enjoyment, but most examples come from young mammals and birds," said Chittka. The study's first author, Samadi Galpayage, who is a PhD student at Queen Mary University of London, added that it is yet more evidence that insects may be capable of experiencing feelings.
"They may actually experience some kind of positive emotional states, even if rudimentary, like other larger fluffy, or not so fluffy, animals do. This sort of finding has implications to our understanding of sentience and welfare of insects and will, hopefully, encourage us to respect and protect life on Earth ever more," she said in the statement.
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