Bumble Bees at Play Bring a Bit of Needed Joy into the World

[SorellaLaBefana]

A study published about a year ago strongly suggests that Bumble Bees actually PLAY

Highlights
• Ball rolling by bumble bees fulfils animal play criteria.
• Ball rolling can act as an unconditioned rewarding stimulus.
• Younger bees rolled more balls, with age patterns resembling mammalian juvenile play.
• Males rolled balls for longer durations than females…

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347222002366?via%3Dihub

I came across the study in Nature Newsletter (It is from 22 Nov—this apparently will not show up until the 23rd) which reported that the bee study had been awarded China’s Pineapple Science Award in biology!

The study monitored the behavior of 45 bumble bees that were given the options of walking unobstructed to a feeding area or deviating into an area with wooden balls. The bees repeatedly chose to roll the balls instead of eating, suggesting that the activity was rewarding.

Nicknamed “China’s Humorous Nobel Prize,” the Pineapple Science Award recognizes interesting and imaginative scientific research that arouses the public’s enthusiasm for science. It was launched in 2012 by the Zhejiang Association for Science and Technology, with previous winning research including studies into why mosquitoes do not die from raindrops and why vacationing can extend one’s life…

https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1014070?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=90a078dcce-briefing-dy-20231122&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b27a691814-90a078dcce-49942924

There are links to other uplifting research in the above article 😊

It made me *SMILE*

Clearly, as most discussions of scientific papers conclude: more such research is needed!

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Bee-autiful!!

How neat. I have a stand of Golden Rods outside, they're dying for the winter now, but in the summer (late) the flowers are in full bloom, and I always get a kick out of just standing there, in the Golden Rod while all of the bees are buzzing around, going from flower to flower. One of these days I'll set up my camera and take a 30 minute shot of all of the bees (and many other critters too, not just bees). They never bother me (they know I won't bother them) and I've always enjoyed it so much.