The Mind of a Bee

by Lars Chittka

Overview

A rich and surprising exploration of the intelligence of bees

Most of us are aware of the hive mind—the power of bees as an amazing collective. But do we know how uniquely intelligent bees are as individuals? In The Mind of a Bee, Lars Chittka draws from decades of research, including his own pioneering work, to argue that bees have remarkable cognitive abilities. He shows that they are profoundly smart, have distinct personalities, can recognize flowers and human faces, exhibit basic emotions, count, use simple tools, solve problems, and learn by observing others. They may even possess consciousness.

Taking readers deep into the sensory world of bees, Chittka illustrates how bee brains are unparalleled in the animal kingdom in terms of how much sophisticated material is packed into their tiny nervous systems. He looks at their innate behaviors and the ways their evolution as foragers may have contributed to their keen spatial memory. Chittka also examines the psychological differences between bees and the ethical dilemmas that arise in conservation and laboratory settings because bees feel and think. Throughout, he touches on the fascinating history behind the study of bee behavior.

Exploring an insect whose sensory experiences rival those of humans, The Mind of a Bee reveals the singular abilities of some of the world’s most incredible creatures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691253893
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	10/10/2023
Pages:	344
Sales rank:	59,606
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Lars Chittka is professor of sensory and behavioral ecology at Queen Mary University of London. He is the coeditor of Cognitive Ecology of Pollination.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

Chapter 2 Seeing in Strange Colors 16

Chapter 3 The Alien Sensory World of Bees 30

Chapter 4 "It's Just Instinct"-or Is It? 49

Chapter 5 The Roots of Bee Intelligence and Communication 66

Chapter 6 Learning about Space 78

Chapter 7 Learning about Flowers 100

Chapter 8 From Social Learning to "Swarm Intelligence" 122

Chapter 9 The Brains Behind It All 143

Chapter 10 "Personality" Differences between Bees 165

Chapter 11 Do Bees Have Consciousness? 188

Chapter 12 Afterword 210

Acknowledgments 215

Notes and Bibliography 217

Illustration Credits 247

Index 251

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Quite simply a magnificent book. No one knows the mind of a bee better than Lars Chittka. A satisfying blend of sound science and spellbinding storytelling. I was mesmerized from the start.”—George McGavin, zoologist, author, and broadcaster

“Lars Chittka’s The Mind of a Bee is a mind-blowing presentation of scientific evidence and insight showing beyond any reasonable doubt that bees have awareness, memories, basic emotions, intelligence, and personalities—and that what we are doing to them and their world has not just practical but moral implications.”—Carl Safina, author of Beyond Words and Becoming Wild

“The time that insects were seen as little machines, incapable of complex thought, emotions, and learning, is far behind us. We can wish for no better guide than Lars Chittka for an accessible introduction to the wonders of bee intelligence.”—Frans de Waal, author of Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?

“Thanks to Lars Chittka’s captivating account of bees’ thinking and feeling, I now look with fresh eyes at these small animals. They plan ahead, feel pain, and express their very own personalities. The ingenious experimental evidence Chittka offers in support of these and many other points is as convincing as it is fascinating.”—Barbara J. King, author of Animals’ Best Friends: Putting Compassion to Work for Animals in Captivity and in the Wild

“Lars Chittka is an ideal guide to the rich sensory world of bees and to their surprisingly sophisticated powers of cognition. Beautifully illustrated and filled with insights from decades of research, The Mind of a Bee combines scholarship and storytelling in nothing less than a tour de force. Highly recommended for any serious bee enthusiast!”—Thor Hanson, author of Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees

“Intensely detailed, meticulously researched, and always illuminating, The Mind of a Bee is as enjoyable as it is intellectually stimulating. This book takes a fascinating deep dive into bees’ lives and minds, raising critical new questions for us as a species.”—Helen Jukes, author of A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings

Editorial Reviews

Finalist for the PROSE Award in Biological Sciences

"Nominated for the Smart Book of the Year Award, Science Category"

From the Publisher

"Chittka has managed the extraordinary feat of condensing over three decades of research into a single book and in such a way as to make it accessible to the non-expert."

Beekeepers Quarterly

04/11/2022

Chittka, a behavioral ecology professor at Queen Mary University of London, combines cutting-edge science with a rich historical perspective in this take on what it means to be a bee. His goal, which he accomplishes remarkably well, is to dispel the belief that an individual bee is nothing more than “a mindless cog” in a hive; instead, he argues, bees have “beautifully elaborate brains.” He considers whether bees have individual personalities, experience consciousness, or dream­, and in each case, using experiments he and his coworkers have undertaken, explores the likelihood of answers in the affirmative. He demonstrates that bees can be trained to recognize faces, “have a visual processing speed five times faster than humans,” are capable of learning certain tasks that prove they comprehend the concepts of “above” and “below” quicker than primates, and can learn to use tools. Throughout, Chittka offers evolutionary explanations for many of the behaviors he describes—insects, for example, “were pre-adapted for flower color-coding hundreds of millions of years before there were any flowers.” The knowledge on offer here is as entertaining as it is edifying. Readers won’t look at bees the same way again. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"A wonderful journey into the fascinating world of bee intelligence and consciousness."

Conservation Biology

Narrator Michael Butler Murray has a quirky timbre that makes this exploration of all things bee very listenable.

AudioFile

★ 04/01/2022

A leading expert on bee psychology takes readers on a fascinating journey into the mind of man's best insect friend. Chittka (sensory and behavioral ecology, Queen Mary Univ., London) argues that bees, even with brains the size of a pinhead, are far from being "reflexive robots." His book examines bees' sensory world, their instinctual repertoire, and how it relates to learned behaviors. He also studies the evolutionary roots of bee intelligence, how they navigate the "flower supermarket," the possibility of bees having "personality" and possessing some form of consciousness (and the ethical implications of that), and much more. Chittka cites extensive scientific research, including his own, that shows bees pulling off surprising cognitive feats (recognizing flowers and human faces, displaying emotions, counting, and using tools). Bees have long fascinated humanity, so it's fitting that Chittka also surveys the insights of eminent historical entomologists—adding another layer of interest and stylistic flair to the text's scholarly content. While some of Chittka's topics are challenging, the book's cogent structure, nifty illustrations, and smartly written chapter summaries and transitions will help pop-science readers through it. VERDICT The book's bees astound; so too the clever humans who study them.—Robert Eagan

Library Journal

Narrator Michael Butler Murray has a quirky timbre that makes this exploration of all things bee very listenable. He particularly enlivens the somewhat dull and rather lengthy chapters that provide historical background on bee science. What scientists have discovered about bee perception and intelligence is fascinating to hear, but the nitty-gritty of how they figured it out—not so much. The author fails to provide a narrative hook to keep listeners from wandering, making Murray’s job quite difficult. Listeners who do hang on will be astounded by what scientists have learned about the bee brain and nervous system, as well as the perceptive abilities bees closely share with humans. J.T. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

Narrator Michael Butler Murray has a quirky timbre that makes this exploration of all things bee very listenable. He particularly enlivens the somewhat dull and rather lengthy chapters that provide historical background on bee science. What scientists have discovered about bee perception and intelligence is fascinating to hear, but the nitty-gritty of how they figured it out—not so much. The author fails to provide a narrative hook to keep listeners from wandering, making Murray’s job quite difficult. Listeners who do hang on will be astounded by what scientists have learned about the bee brain and nervous system, as well as the perceptive abilities bees closely share with humans. J.T. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2022 - AudioFile