Bee Learning and Communication - Timing in Color Learning

Timing in Color Learning

One of von Frisch’s students, Elizabeth Opfinger, observed that bees would learn color when approaching a feeder. Menzel took this question further: when do bees register and learn color? He wanted to know if bees registered color before, during, or after receiving their sugar-water reward. In order to explore this intriguing question, Menzel displayed the color beneath a rewarded dish at different stages of the honey bee feeding process: during approach, feeding and departure.

The outcome of this experiment revealed that bees register color during both the approach and feeding stages of the exposure process. In order for a bee to accurately remember a given color, it must be present for approximately five seconds in total. Although it varies slightly, Menzel and his colleagues found that bees usually remember best when the stimulus is present for about three seconds during the approach and two seconds after landing and beginning to feed.