Bumblebees use complex problem-solving skills to minimise the energy they use when flying to collect food.
For the bumblebee – as with many other animals – the simplest approach to finding more nectar is to fly to the nearest neighbouring flower.
By arranging six artificial flowers in a flight arena, researchers were able to force the bees to take unnecessarily long routes when flying between flowers. But over time, the bees managed to reduced their flight times, learning the position of each flower within the array.
Read more at Queen Mary, University of London