Did You Know Bees Can Tell Time And Do Math?

I think it’s safe to say those most of us have a healthy appreciation for bees and what they do for our planet. 

Bees are fascinating insects, not only because they are fundamental for the survival of our planet but because they are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. 

Researchers have been studying bees and their abilities for around 100 years and in that time, we have learnt a lot about these remarkable creatures. 

Did you know that Bees can do math? Or that Bees have an impressive memory of time? 

In the 1920’s, a German researcher decided to test Bees’ memory of time by teaching them to turn up for a feeding of sugar water at the same time and same place, every day. 

Through this research, scientist Inga Belling found that bees could be trained to turn up at the same time over a period of 24 hours but could not be trained over a 19 or 43 hour period. 

Cosmos science journalist Jacinta Bowler takes us on a deep dive into the mind of bees and the many ways we underestimate them. 

Tune into the full episode of Huh? Science Explained below…