Numerical cognition in honeybees enables addition and subtraction

Numerical cognition in honeybees enables addition and subtraction. Scarlett R. Howard1, Aurore Avarguès-Weber2, Jair E. Garcia1, Andrew D. Greentree3 and Adrian G. Dyer. Science Advances 06 Feb 2019: Vol. 5, no. 2, eaav0961 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav0961 “Many animals understand numbers at a basic level for use in essential tasks such as foraging, shoaling, and resource management. However, complex arithmetic operations, such as addition and subtraction, using symbols and/or labeling have only been demonstrated in a limited number of nonhuman vertebrates. We show that honeybees, with a miniature brain, can learn to use blue and yellow as symbolic representations for addition or subtraction. In a free-flying environment, individual bees used this information to solve unfamiliar problems involving adding or subtracting one element from a group of elements. This display of numerosity requires bees to acquire long-term rules and use short-term working memory. Given that…

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