A renowned zoologist has emphasised that all science is a “playful and exploratory activity” as he received an award for a study which confirmed the eagerness of bumblebees to play.
Prof Lars Chittka and his team at Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom, were recently named the winners of the 2023 Pineapple Science Award in Biology.
The prize, which honours unconventional scientific achievements, has been initiated by the Zhejiang Science and Technology Museum in Hangzhou, China.
The professor of behavioural ecology, who looks back on assignments at higher education institutions in Germany and the United States, reacted to the news by saying: “It’s a magnificent honour to receive this award! My work has often had a playful, tongue-in-cheek element.”
Prof Chittka mentioned that he and his colleagues had previously measured the response of bees to a Vincent Van Gogh painting. He argued: “All science is a kind of playful, exploratory activity.”
For their award-winning study, the Queen Mary University researchers teamed up with experts from the University of Sheffield and Oulu University in Finland to find out whether insects are keen on moving objects just for fun.
After having built a tunnel system which linked a nesting spot with a playing arena equipped with small wooden balls, they set up a lighting system which ensured a day and night rhythm simulation.
The 45 involved bumblebees were given large amounts of pollen and sucrose. They were able to move freely between the nest and the experimental space.
On the first day of the experiment, all of the 45 involved pollinators completed intentional ball rolls of 0.4 seconds or longer at least once. Some of the insects pushed the objects up to 44 times.
Thirty-seven bumblebees interacted with the balls on the following day even after they had finished feeding on pollen and sugar water.
Prof Chittka concluded in October 2022: “Individual bees rolled balls between one and, impressively, 117 times over the experiment. The repeated behaviour suggested that ball-rolling was rewarding.”
Dr Samadi Galpayage also participated in the investigation. Upon being informed about winning the 2023 Pineapple Science Award, she said: “I am glad that such work has resulted in more people perceiving scientific research as fun and creative as well as necessary to advance our understanding of the natural world.”
Bumblebees are social insects and highly active pollinators. There are more than 250 species of bumblebees in the world. Their existence is endangered by the ongoing loss of habitats and the application of pesticides.
