Study Reveals the 'Imagining' Ability of Bees and Wombs

If we knew what a jar of honey looked like, we could probably find it by touch from the top shelf of the cupboard. But how is this possible? This happens because our brain is able to store information in such a way that it can be retrieved by different senses. Scientists think that this multisensory ability, called modal object cross-recognition, exists at least in part because we are able to imagine the object in our brains, an ability that is a 'building block' of consciousness. But now a team of scientists has discovered that this incredible ability is also present in the brains of bumblebees and bees.

In the light, but without touching the objects, the tiny insects were trained to find sugar water rewarding in one type of object (cubes or spheres) and bitter quinine solution in the other. When tested in the dark, they preferred the object that was previously gratifying, spending more time exploring it. The bumblebees also solved the task in reverse. After learning to find a particular shape in the dark, they were tested in the light and once again preferred the shape they had learnt as rewarding by touch alone.

"Many have thought that the small bee brain simply reacts to stimuli and motor output behaviour without any internal representation of the world," said Dr Solvi, co-author of the study. "In humans, the ability to solve a cross-modal recognition task, such as those solved by bumblebees, requires mental images." The question now is whether we have underestimated the intelligence of bees or overestimated how complex a brain must be to perform cross-modal recognition. Researchers had previously discovered that bees can learn by watching other bees and can display positive emotional states, but even they were impressed by this latest feat. "We already knew that bees were quite intelligent. However, our new results surprised even us," said Dr Solvi.

Other research conducted by Adrian Dyer of RMIT, who was not involved in the latest study, showed that bees are able to recognise human faces and make basic calculations. Asked if this was proof of bee consciousness, Prof. Lars Chittka head of the QMUL lab and co-author of the study said: 'Although we have to be careful with terms like "consciousness", this is proof that we have a bit more than previously known. This is not to say that it is formal proof of consciousness - a notoriously elusive phenomenon for which neither philosophers nor scientists have developed a simple set of criteria."

Nevertheless, the new discovery, together with other work on bee psychology, raises the likelihood that there is conscious awareness in these creatures. Being able to produce mental images and being able to think about objects in the abstract may also provide some benefits to animals. 'A conscious animal can use its mind to explore new solutions to unexpected challenges,' Professor Chittka continues. But the potential of having a level of conscious thought also raises ethical questions. 'This provides further reasons for their urgent protection and preservation'. Finally, the professor concludes: 'We should not only protect bees because we need them as pollinators of our crops, but also because they deserve our respect as individuals with an awareness of the world around them, including the often unfavourable environments to which we humans expose them'.