Bees can Solve Simple Math Problems

Honey and Bees are related to Math? How?

Adding 2 and 2 makes 4. These additions and subtractions in math can be done by anyone, even a small child who is just starting to learn math. But what if this math calculation is done by an insect, especially a bee? Yes, Bees can Solve Simple Math Problems! Thinking, I'm telling weird stories like crazy. Well, well, then I'm going to explain and clearing up.

We have long believed that not only the human brain is advanced, but recent research has shown that monkeys and birds also have advanced brains. As a result, these animals can do mathematical calculations just like us.

One study found that bees can understand numerical quantities. Bees are fascinating animals, strengthening the whole ecosystem through pollination and at the same time producing honey, one of nature's most complex substances. However, it turns out that small striped insects are also quite clever.

A new study has shown that bees can understand the concept of zero. But the bee's brain has only 1 million neurons, but it makes full use of each power - while the human brain has 6,000 million neurons. Although their brains are not much larger than sesame seeds, they have more neurons than any other insect of their size.

As a result, they can feel at ease where the flavored nectar is found. Bees don’t just collect honey by buzzing around; They also solve math problems in their spare time. A team of researchers in Australia reported that bees understand the concept of "zero". However, the researchers looked a little closer and found that dolphins could understand what is meant by zero.

Not only can bees calculate or understand the concept of zero - they can also perceive the symbols of numbers, and despite having tiny brains, bees can understand the mathematical concepts of addition and subtraction.

Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne have shown that bees can do math. Successfully, despite their tiny brains, these buzzing worms are able to perceive the concept of zero and time as well as count. Now, in a new study, the same team of researchers has shown that bees are also able to equate a symbol to abstract the amount of numbers (for example, the "2" sign refers to two things).

Adrian Dyer, an associate professor at RMIT University, said: “When we learn our numbers as children, we take it for granted, but we need a sophisticated level of cognitive skills to be able to understand what‘ 4 ’means. Studies have shown that birds can associate symbols with numbers, but this is the first of its kind among insects. ”

In a new study published by the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Bees, researchers in Australia created a fancy experiment of 20 bee hives, each marked with a colored dot to distinguish it.

The bees were divided into two groups: one group was taught to associate symbols with numbers, and the other half was taught to associate quantities with symbols. For example, an inverse path stands for “T” 3 and an “N” stands for 2. The tiny bee was able to build brain numbers skills and short-term work memory that was previously applicable to some large vertebrates.

Accurate numerical calculations arising from addition and subtraction are not very straightforward, but have been shown in some vertebrate species, especially mammals and parrots.

Can bees do simple mathematical calculations? After doing a little study, the researchers trained 14 bees to add and subtract one by one, and found that their tiny brains had found fancy ways to do complex work.

According to The Guardian's Nicola Davis, the researchers used unique Y-shaped mathematical mazes to determine the number of arthropods and the movement of bees. Since insects cannot read, and their school reading will be incredibly difficult to identify abstract symbols such as addition-subtraction symbols, the researchers used color to indicate addition or subtraction results.

In research, blue means to add one and yellow means to subtract one. At the beginning of the maze, food-seeking bees would enter a Y-shaped labyrinth where they could see one to five shapes of blue or yellow.

The bees then preferred to fly to the left or right of the puzzle, which had one more element on one side and a lesser one on the other. If the bees landed in the correct answer, they would be rewarded with sugar water. If they landed in the squares representing the wrong answer, they would have tasted an unnecessary quinine solution.

During the training practice of fourteen bees, it took four to seven hours to complete 100 trips with one to five elements of four different sizes (squares, diamonds, circles and triangles) through massage, with randomly selected sizes and numbers. All of the bees showed up to learn the concept.

Then, bees were tested 10 times, including 108 different patterns for addition and 108 patterns for subtraction using two additions and two subtraction scenes, which were not part of the training. In two additions and two subtraction tests, bees were 80 to 75 percent accurate. The researchers said they chose the answer. The authors conclude that the brain of a small bee in a hive has advanced numerical knowledge. The study was published in the journal Science Advances.

Then the question may come to your mind, why on earth are bees doing mathematical calculations?

One possibility is that bees have developed this ability because their brains process much more complex information about the environment in their brains when they collect honey from flowers, according to Dyer. The other is that they have a lot of "neuroplasticity", which means that new connections can easily develop between neurons in the bee's brain.

In other words, bees don't usually do math, but their brains are flexible enough to learn a new skill, much like a human can make a Rubik's cube or learn a material.

If you look at a textbook, you will see how children around the age of 4 or 5 can do or learn a similar level of math. But that doesn’t mean kids can’t learn it before; These are done only when they are usually taught by the school system.

So, if bees can add and subtract 1 from a number, can they go out and perform mathematical operations like 1 + 1 = 2? In response, Dyer said, "I am just happy to be here. It seems that the meritorious students have to work more classes. ”

Whether bees are mathematical investigators or not, they are still quite amazing creatures that play an important role in the health of the ecosystem. If researchers could understand how bees perform such complex tasks with such a limited number of neurons, both biology and technology in research could have an impact on machine learning.

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