"Despite their tiny brains bees are capable of
extraordinary feats of behavior,"
They might look like they wander aimlessly from
flower to flower, but bumblebees actually solve a complex
mathematical problem to find the shortest possible route between
sources of food.
A study found that — despite having a brain the size of a grass
seed — bumblebees were able to overcome the so-called "Traveling
Salesman Problem" with apparent ease.
Scientists at the University of London said the insects were the
first animals known to be capable of the feat.
"Foraging bees solve traveling salesman problems every day,"
researcher Dr Nigel Raine said. "They visit flowers at multiple
locations and, because bees use lots of energy to fly, they find a
route which keeps flying to a minimum.
"Despite their tiny brains bees are capable of extraordinary
feats of behavior," he added. "We need to understand how they can
solve the 'Traveling Salesman Problem' without a computer. What
shortcuts do they use?"
Computers solve the problem by comparing the length of all
possible routes and choosing the shortest, the researchers said in
a statement.
Shortest route
In the study, which is due to be published in The American
Naturalist this week, computer-controlled artificial flowers were
used to test whether bees followed a route defined by the order in
which they discovered the flowers or if they worked out the
shortest route.
The information could be used to improve understanding of how
bees pollinate crops and wild flowers, the scientists added.
But the researchers added that humans might also be able to
learn from the bees.
"Our lifestyle relies on networks such as traffic on the roads,
information flow on the Web and business supply chains," the
statement said. "By understanding how bees can solve their problem
with such a tiny brain we can improve our management of these
everyday networks without needing lots of computer time."