The BeeHolder, January 2010

Reputable journals, such as the New Scientist, should not use the term “Killer Bees” when writing about the hybrids between the African Honey Bee and the European honey bees (November 18th 2009). The sting is no worse than the European honey bee. However they do display an exaggerated form of “following” behaviour. Let us use the less emotive and correct term “Africanised honeybee”.

These Africanised honeybees may be amongst the most feared of all insects - but they ain't too smart.

Since being introduced into Brazil in 1956, Africanised honeybees have spread through Central America to southern USA. UK biologist Margaret Couvillon (pictured), of the Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects, (LASI) Sussex University, and her colleagues are testing the cognitive abilities of the bees to try to reveal the secret of their success.

Increased intelligence had been suggested as one reason for this expansion. Apparently not.

A team led by Margaret Couvillon tested the abilities of the the European honeybee and the Africanised honeybee to associate a whiff of jasmine with a sugar reward. (Reread “Sniffer Bees”, The BeeHolder, July 2009 ED.) "Surprisingly, we found that fewer Africanized honeybees learn to associate an odour with a reward. Additionally, fewer Africanized honeybees remembered the association a day later," the team write.

When researchers gave bees a second whiff, about half of European honeybees stuck out their tongue-like proboscises as soon as the odour wafted by again, anticipating another drop of sugar water. The bees acted like Pavlov's dogs, drooling at the sound of a bell they associate with food, Couvillon says. Only about half as many Africanised honeybees picked up the association after a single trial, the researchers found.

Foraging style could explain this difference. European honey bees tend travel vast distances in search of flowery meals and they revisit sites. A keen memory and an ability to learn quickly would benefit this strategy. Killer bees, on the other hand, don't wander far from their hives and they often visit new flowers, so learning might not be as important, Couvillon's team speculates. "Perhaps learning has a cost," Couvillon says "If it were cost-free, wouldn't we all be getting smarter?"

Arthur Finlay