Honeybees' "cognitive flexibility"

Bees were successfully trained to move a ball to a specific location in order to get a food reward; bees learned the skill best by watching other bees do it. The knowledge and ability then spread through the hive, as later generations were taught.

This research shows that while in the wild, bees don't normally use tools, their ability to develop this skill and others, could be helpful in times of environmental stress:

"Such unprecedented cognitive flexibility [in bees] hints that entirely novel behaviors could emerge relatively swiftly in species whose lifestyle demands advanced learning abilities, should relevant ecological pressures arise."

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