Learning patterns in Honey bees |
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Karl von Frisk, an important figure in honey bee biology, discovered the colour vision of bees through associative learning. Von Frisk experimentally trialled the associative capabilities of bees through conditional learning, where a food reward (sucrose) was placed in a dish over a blue piece of card. A honey bee was exposed to the dish repeatedly before being removed, then reintroduced to the addition of a red card with an empty dish on top. The honey bee was able to discern between the red and the blue dish for the reward. To further prove this theory, a multitude of cards ranging from white to grey were introduced, all with empty dishes, with the blue card still containing the food source. A number of bees were run through this experiment and a significant number still associated the blue card with food. The blue card was swapped with other colours such as red and yellow with similar results, supporting the associative capabilities of bees, as well as colour vision (Von Frisk, 1956).
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