Another experiment, designed to assess the mental abilities of bumblebees and their craving for knowledge, ended quite successfully. Previously, they already showed their craving for knowledge, so this time researchers from Queen Mary's University of London decided to train bumblebees to earn their syrup by playing football.
"Our experiment demonstrates that insects are able to learn something new, even in spite of the small size of their brains," comments Lars Chittky, one of the initiators of the experiment and the author of the work published in the study in Science.
In the training of bumblebees, scientists, a magnet and a wand took part. At first the principle of "game" was demonstrated by a twig, painted under a bumblebee. To get sugar syrup, it was enough to roll the ball into the center of the platform. It was this wand that dealt with. Then it was removed, demonstrating to the bumblebees, how the sweet solution appears immediately after the next scored goal, leading the ball to the hole using a magnet located on the back of the field. All the rest is a matter of technique. Insects quickly realized what was what, and then "told" the rest. Now, the bumblebees of the University of London, Queen Mary, founded their "football team" to chase balls and get a great fee for it.
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