Clever bees can recognise symbols and do maths say scientists

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, A group of bees were put through their paces by scientists in Australia

Scientists have discovered that bees are cleverer than we think!

They found that bees can link symbols to numbers, and even do basic maths.

Researchers at the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, trained honeybees to match characters to specific amounts.

For example, two stars on a picture would represent two bananas.

Image source, RMIT University

Image caption, Here is a picture of one of the mazes the bees were tested in

The bees were taught how to recognise symbols, then were put into a maze, where they had to match the right character with the right number of things.

When they got it right, they were rewarded with sugar water.

The results show for the first time that insects have the ability to learn complicated ideas, such as symbol-made language.

Chimpanzees, pigeons, monkey and parrots can also learn to match the correct symbols to numbers.