New research shows that bumble bees play. It is the first time that object play behavior has been shown in an insect.
bumble bees went out of their way to roll wooden balls repeatedly despite there being no apparent incentive for doing so, according to the team of researchers.
The study found that younger bees rolled more balls than older bees and that male bees rolled them for longer than females.
A study followed 45 bumble bees in an arena and gave them the option of walking through an unimpeded path to reach a feeding area or deviating from this path into the areas with wooden balls. The individual bees rolled balls between 1 and 118 times. It was suggested that ball-rolling was enjoyable.
There was an experiment where another 42 bees were given access to two colored chambers, one with balls and one without. bees preferred the color of the chamber previously associated with the wooden balls when they were given a choice between the two chambers
The set-up of the experiments made it clear that the bees were moving the balls to play. Rolling balls didn't contribute to survival strategies such as gaining food or clearing cluttered space.
The research shows that bumble bees can be taught to score a goal by rolling a ball to a target in exchange for a snack. bumble bees did not get any food reward during the previous experiment.
The bees rolling balls repeatedly without being trained and without getting any food for doing so was akin to play behavior seen in other animals.
Samadi Galpayage is a student at Queen Mary University of London and is the study's first author. They approach and play with these toys. It shows once more that they are more than small robotic beings.
Animals may experience some kind of positive emotional states, even if rudimentary, like other larger fluffy, or not so fluffy. This sort of finding will hopefully encourage us to respect and protect life on Earth even more.
Professor Chittka is the head of the lab at Queen Mary University of London and author of The Mind of a Bee. Young mammals and birds are the most common examples of animals who play just for the sake of fun.
There is growing evidence that shows the need to protect insects that are a million miles away from the mindless, unfeeling creatures they are traditionally believed to be.
More information: Hiruni Samadi Galpayage Dona et al, Do bumble bees play?, Animal Behaviour (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.08.013 Journal information: Animal Behaviour
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