Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have demonstrated that bumblebees can pick up complex skills by observing relatives, a capability once thought to belong only to humans. The findings appeared in a prestigious scientific journal, underscoring a broader ability for social learning across species.
Early assumptions held that such intricate learning required higher intelligence specific to people. Yet the new work suggests that insects may also benefit from social information within their communities, expanding the current view of animal cognition.
In the core experiment, several bumblebees were trained to unlock a puzzle box that concealed a sweet reward. To succeed, the bees needed to perform a sequence of actions in a particular order that individuals could not reliably figure out on their own. The setup highlighted the power of chain-like behaviors and the need to coordinate steps precisely to reveal the prize.
Following the training phase, the skilled bees were placed with groups of naïve peers. Observing the trained siblings perform the required actions, some of the inexperienced bees learned to replicate the solution and access the reward themselves. The outcome points to a capacity for social transmission of complex tasks beyond humans, at least in the realm of insect cognition.
A parallel investigation explored chimpanzees. In a separate cohort, 66 chimpanzees were first shown a box containing peanuts and a wooden ball that served as the key to progress. The sequence required opening the box, placing the ball in a designated slot, and closing the lid. For about three months, the animals did not quite solve the puzzle unaided.
Human facilitators then demonstrated the correct order of actions to two participants. After this instructional phase, the group of chimpanzees exposed themselves to the demonstrated sequence, and within roughly two months a subset—14 individuals—had learned to complete the task. The results reinforced the idea that observing others can unlock multifaceted behaviors that were previously thought to be uniquely within human reach.
The researchers concluded that these experiments illuminate a broader capacity for complex behavioral acquisition across species. Social learning, rather than being a purely human trait, appears to play a pivotal role in how animals adapt to challenges and exploit new opportunities in their environments. This expansion of perspective helps explain how groups of animals can share techniques, improve efficiency, and collectively extend their behavioral repertoire over time.
In sum, the experiments with bumblebees and chimpanzees offer compelling evidence that social context matters for learning sophisticated tasks. The results invite a reevaluation of how intelligence is defined and measured across the animal kingdom, suggesting that the lines separating human and non-human cognition may be more blurred than once thought. The research opens doors to further inquiries about the mechanisms behind social learning and how different species leverage social cues to solve problems together.