ARTICLES
Bees can learn Higher Numbers than we thought – if we
Train them the Right Way
Honeybees nature’s maths whizzes. SR Howard, Author provided
stars at once by ignoring colours, it requires more concentration,
and even then our accuracy tends to be poorer.
Author
1. A
drian Dyer: Adrian Dyer is an Associate Professor at RMIT
University;
2. J air Garcia: Jair Garcia is a Research Fellow at RMIT
University;
3. S
carlett Howard: Scarlett Howard is a Post-doctoral Research
Fellow at the Université de Toulouse 111 – Paul Sabatier.
This article was first published in ‘The Conversation’ on 11th
October, 2019.
Bees
For numbers from 1 to 4 shown here in different colours, we
efficiently process the exact number. But if we try estimating
their total number ignoring colour it is far more difficult ...?
Bees are pretty good at maths – as far as insects go, at least.
We already know, for example, that they can count up to four
and even understand the concept of zero. But in a new study,
published in the Journal of Experimental Biology on 11th October,
2019, we showed that honeybees are also able to understand
numbers higher than four – as long as we provide them feedback
for both correct and incorrect responses as they learn.
This effect isn’t unique to humans. Fish, for example, also show a
threshold for accurate quantity discrimination at four.
One theory to explain this is that counting up to four isn’t really
counting at all. It may be that many animals’ brains can innately
recognise groups of up to four items, whereas proper counting
(the process of sequentially counting the number of objects
present) is needed for numbers beyond that.
Even our own human brains are less adept at dealing with
numbers greater than four. While we can effortlessly estimate up
to four items, processing larger numbers requires more mental
effort. Hence why, when asked to count, a young child will
sometimes answer with “1, 2, 3, 4, more”!
By comparing the performance of different animal species in
various number processing tasks we can better understand
how differences in brain size and structure enable number
processing. As an example, honeybees have previously been
If you don’t believe it, try the test above. The various colour
groupings representing 1-4 stars are easy to count quickly and
accurately. However, if we try estimating the number of all the
48
SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 68 NO 4