Book Review - The Mind of a Bee - Princeton University Press

 

     When one views the historical record, it is astonishing to note how animals were viewed as little more than automata, to be exploited by humans (who were created in God's image, of course) to do with as they wished. Lacking any sense of pain, joy, regret or other emotions considered the exclusive preserve of Homo sapiens, even vivisection was fair game if it pleased humans. Animals were deemed to operate only by "instinct" with no ability to rationalize or modify behaviour. Thank goodness these notions have been dispelled and Lars Chittka contributes in a major way to revealing that the intelligence of bees rivals human intelligence in so many ways, and in certain areas surpasses it.

     A whole series of exquisite experiments aided by advances in technology, delivers insight into the way bees see (in a spectrum beyond human capability) and how that faculty aids them to select flowers that promise nectar.  Additional experiments reveal how bees navigate to and from food sources with unerring accuracy and find their way back to the hive, where the waggle dance announces to others the location and distance of the stash. The waggle dance is deconstructed to reveal how it serves to identify the precise location of the area where foraging will repay the effort.

     A flower is not merely a flower - only the precise kind of flower will do and we learn how a bee identifies the species it is seeking. This minimizes the time spent foraging and confers maximum efficiency to the bee's activity.

     Charles Darwin examined bees that were benefitting from observing congeners and learning from them, and postulated that we should not be surprised that insects might be able to acquire knowledge in the same way as mammals. In a series of elegant experiments Chittka's graduate students offer proof of this phenomenon. Incredibly, bees could be taught to use tools, an ability that not so long ago dumbfounded animal behaviourists when it was proven that chimpanzees and Caledonian Crows could do so. Ideas of what makes a human "human" fall quickly.

     It comes as no surprise to pet owners that animals have distinctive personalities and display traits that differ little from human emotions. It may come as a shock to many, however, that bees too have "personalities."

     Bees experience physical pain if injured in similar fashion to other higher animals and this will not be a revelation to anyone who has seen a worm writhing on a fish hook. Furthermore, bees are susceptible to trauma associated with an encounter with a predator, and they manifest other facets of consciousness. 

     Bees are resilient creatures, but there is a limit.

When change happens too quickly, not only bees, but other organisms do not have time to adapt.

     Chittka states it very well, "Imagine humanity was faced with the challenge of losing over 90 percent of our living space over a few generations. Yes, some of us might survive, but not necessarily because of superior intelligence - more likely because of guns and money."

     If we really care about bees, and by extension the welfare of the planet, we can all do our part. Convert your home garden to native plants, eliminate lawns, permit wildflowers to flourish, eschew pesticides, herbicides and other lethal chemicals, give up or seriously reduce your consumption of red meat, provide habitat for wild creatures, stop using plastic, don't litter,  and make conscious decisions with the welfare of your grandchildren in mind, even those you don't yet have!

     This is an amazing book. I give it my highest recommendation. I find fault in only one trivial aspect - the typeface is too small. But even my aging eyes learned to cope - and I am sure yours will too!

The Mind of a Bee - Princeton University Press

Lars Chittka

Hardcover - US$29.95 - ISBN 9780691180472

272 pages - 6.125 x 9.25 inches (15.31 x 23.125 cm)

57 colour illustrations

Publication date: 26 July, 2022