Overview
- Researchers reported their findings in coverage published Tuesday and Wednesday after filming dozens of buff/earth bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) from 18 colonies during controlled feeding tests.
- Slow-motion video captured consistent acceptance gestures—extension of the glossa or tongue—for sugary solutions and rejection gestures—head‑shaking plus mouth‑wiping—for salty or bitter liquids.
- The team altered external and internal conditions such as heat exposure, satiety and drug treatments and found those changes shifted the bees' responses, showing the reactions depended on state.
- Authors, including Andrew Barron, describe the observable patterns as 'emotion-like' indicators of internal state but explicitly stop short of claiming proof of subjective experience.
- The study builds on prior work that shows complex behavior in small insect brains and could reshape how scientists test insect feeling and decision-making in both lab and field contexts.