Will I love The Mind of a Bee?

This book is a reference review of our knowledge about insect intelligence. It was written by a friend and mentor, who accompanied me in my first steps in science. Lars made me discover bees and I have never quit them since.

His book is more academic than mine. We learn a lot about the latest research on honey bee and bumblebee cognition. It is a must-read for anyone wanting to study insects or start a degree in animal behavior or cognition.

Bees are sometimes dismissed as robot-like “reflex machines” that feel nothing—but they learn from each other, they are creative, they have “cultures” of a kind, they even “play” with little balls, and they plausibly feel pain.

Chittka’s amazing work over many decades has persuaded me that insects probably have feelings—feelings very different from our own, no doubt, but feelings that matter to them and should matter to us.

This book blew my mind. Lars Chittka is a bee researcher who zigs while everyone else zags. While many entomologists study the “hivemind,” Chittka set out to prove that bees have individual smarts. 

Chittka and his colleagues trained bumble bees to roll a small ball into a hole for a sugary reward, leading to a viral video of “bees playing soccer.” His experiments show that bees can recognize faces, they can count, use simple tools, and display emotions.

This leads Chittka to conclude that bees think and feel; they have a consciousness that puts them on par with dogs and… show more.