Posted on 10/26/2008 7:23:50 AM PDT by Daffynition
An Australian and a Swedish researcher say they have proved honey bees are more intelligent than previously thought.
Professor Mandyam Srinivasan from Queensland University and Dr Marie Dacke trained honey bees to count by placing food at different markers.
Professor Srinivasan says he has also found bees can learn colours and smells and be trained to fly through complicated mazes.
"The more we look at these creatures that have a brain the size of a sesame seed, the more astonished we are," he said.
"They really have a lot of the capacities that we so-called higher human beings possess."
The scientists also say they have proved honey bees can count to four.
The put five markers inside a tunnel and placed nectar at one of them.
When honey bees were put in the tunnel, they flew to the marker with the food.
Professor Srinivasan says when the experiment was repeated without nectar the bees still flew to the marker that had contained the food.
"We find that if you train them to the third stripe, they will look subsequently in the third stripe," he said.
'If you train them to the fourth stripe, they will look in the fourth stripe and so on.
"But their ability to count seems to go only up to four. They can't count beyond four."
If you like hummers, maybe you’ll enjoy this. It happens pretty much like this this every September.
The Hummingbird From Hell
It is a given, “ A man’s house is his Castle” . You own the property, have a deed and can pretty much decide what happens within the boundaries. Some may argue that the deed is only a permit from the government to whom you pay rent in the form of taxes. But the truth is that there are others who think they own your property and expend lots of time and energy defending it from the aggression.
I have a fairly typical house on a typical suburban lot. It is occupied by myself and my wife. There are relics here and there of a child who moved away years ago. There are several creatures who have settled in on the lot and consider major portions to be theirs.
The most aggressive and the reason for this essay is a female Ruby Throated Hummingbird. I put up a feeder outside my office windows and began to notice the frequent presence of visitors who slip their long beaks into the feeder orifice to extract the sugar water. Sometimes the visitors smack their lips and extend their amazingly long tongues. Sometimes the visits take seconds on the wing and sometimes the visit lasts several minutes while the visitor leisurely feeds and rests and preens.
I also began to notice that multiple visitors were present and that before any serious feeding could occur, from out of nowhere a determined dive bomber swept from the sky. The feeding attempt was disrupted, and two hummingbirds would depart with one in the lead and a second in close formation. The second was so close behind it seemed to be pricking the wingmate in the butt. Around and around they would soar. Across the drive and adjacent garage, curving in an upward arc, and then down and back. Finally it would be over.
I watched this action several times and began to wonder where the aggressor came from. Try as I would, I could not determine the source.
There are others who consider my castle home. There are several chipmunks that occupy carefully defined territories also. Woe be unto the one who intrudes. There are wild Chip and Dale chases with much chirping as the encounter winds down. On occasion, a chipmunk well within its own domain will be run down and rolled over by one of the squirrels who consider the same area as their own. This seems to be sport rather than territorial dominance. The gray squirrel does it simply because he can.
But back to the main theme. Chipmunks love sunflower seeds. The one who occupies the territory under the hummingbird feeder always checks out the top of the wood pile for sunflower seeds. One morning as the chipmunk ventured across the drive towards the wood pile, from nowhere came the humming bird strafing the hapless chipmunk and forcing it to take refuge under the car.
I finally learned about the hummingbird’ s lair. She lives in the Leatherleaved Viburnam bush a mere 20 feet away from the feeder. Keep in mind the humming bird has a green back and is not bigger than your thumb. She is very hard to see within the shrub and even when perched on a leafless branch is barely visible 20 feet away.
There are also Wrens who live in and around my house. They stay pretty close. They carefully probe all the logs in the wood pile and the spaces in between the logs. Occasionally they fly through the open patio doors into the office where they carefully inspect all the house plants and the computer, and the copy machine. Wrens are incredibly curious. Wrens are also small. Compared to the other birds in my domain, the wrens are the smallest.
That is until the Hummingbird from hell came to live with us all. It is becoming near the time for southerly migration for the Hummingbird. Her goal is to gain as much weight as she can and spend the least possible energy while doing so. She has a really bad case of PMS…… Pre Migration Syndrome.
The Leatherleaf bush is the acknowledged home of the Sapsucker who has been coming there for years, even decades. It bothers no one, quietly climbing up the branches and carefully perforating the bark with little holes. It allows the Chickadees and the Wrens to occupy the space.
No more. The tranquility of the Leatherleaf is gone. The tiny Humming bird let it be known that it is her bush. She hovers so close to the trespassers that their feathers are ruffled by the prop wash from her rapidly beating wings. The Chickadees and the Wrens have been vanquished by the Hummingbird. They are gone from the Leatherwood bush.
It is truly a wonder to watch the events related take place. The Hummingbird is amazingly small but with aggressive determination dominates the air and ground space outside my office. All I can do is hope she has a peasant trip to Florida.
That’s better than the local High School graduates.
The My hummies are also very territorial ... but it seems the males more than the females. I've had them eat out of my hand and the same pair has returned for three years now. I've never figured out where they nest but it has to be close by.
Your observations are spot on. Have you seen their "J" mating flight? I swear, that before they head south, they come to say good bye ... one year they both flew into my open porch and did their graceful "J" and off they went....Of course like a mother I worry about them all winter long, especially when I hear there is a hurricane/tropical storm brewing.
Amazing tongue!
Insects too!
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