Bees become pessimists and lose their buzz when stressed out, just like humans

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Bees get stressed, and when this happens they end up making pessimistic choices and lack a buzz in life, a new study says. Scientists at Newcastle University, UK, have found that the response of bumblebees to an adverse situation is similar to human emotions. 

Published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the study shows that agitated bees have lower expectations of reward, and this also impacts how they approach and pollinate flowers.

As part of the study, bees were trained to decide whether a colour signalled something good or bad. They ultimately learnt that different colours are linked with different outcomes.

One of them was about a sweet reward location, and another colour indicated a location that offered a much lower reward. 

After this, two groups were exposed to a simulated predatory attack, while a third group did not experience any stress. The bees in the first group were either shaken or trapped using a robotic arm with a sponge.

The bees that were put under stress were a lot less likely to associate ambiguous colours with high rewards, and so drifted towards low-reward locations more than the control bees.

Stressed bees turn pessimistic after stress

Dr Vivek Nityananda, from Newcastle University, said, "Our study shows that bees are more pessimistic after stress, as their behaviour suggests that they do not expect to get rewards."

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"Emotions are complex states and in humans involve a subjective understanding of what you are feeling. We might never know if bees feel something similar. However, what this research can say is that bees have similar responses when they are stressed and make pessimistic choices," he added.

Scientists were amazed to see that human emotion-like responses are present in other animals, including insects. 

Dr. Olga Procenk from the University of Birmingham led the research. She said, "Our research suggests that like other animals, including humans, bees may experience emotion-like states when stressed, as demonstrated by a clear shift towards pessimism."

"Our study opens up new possibilities for understanding how stress affects insect cognition and behaviour, which could provide insights into their responses to environmental challenges and inform conservation efforts," she added.