Bumblebee Smarts: Insects Visit Safe Flowers and Avoid Danger

It turns out that bumblebees may be smarter than you might think. Scientists have found that the insects can tell the difference between safe and dangerous environments, and are attracted to land on flowers that are popular with other bees when exposed to perilous situations.

In order to examine bee behavior a bit more closely, the researchers trained bees to differentiate between safe and dangerous environments. When bees associated on a flower associated with danger, foam pincers would trap the bee and prevent it from foraging; this simulated an attack by a crab spider, a predator that lurks on flowers.

So what did the researchers find? In safe environments, the bumblebees chose to feed from flowers at random. But in dangerous environments, the bees only flew to flowers that were occupied by other bees.

"It's similar to walking through a bad neighborhood," said Erika Dawson, one of the researchers, in a news release. "You're more likely to choose a busier route, where there are lots of other people around than a deserted street, to get to your destination, since your chances of being attacked are probably lower."

The findings reveal a little bit more about how bumblebees navigate a dangerous world. Understanding bee behavior is important, considering the current decline in these insects.

"These results show a remarkable flexibility in pollinators' strategic foraging decisions," said Lars Chittka, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Bees normally spread themselves out among flowers to minimize competition, but when danger lurks they dine together to seek safety in numbers."

The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.