Did you know that bees can get sad and depressed just like you?

Scientists are discovering that animals, from octopuses to bees, might experience emotions like humans, even though they can't tell us in words.

Bees, in particular, are showing us there's more to their lives than we thought.

Bees and science

Frans B. M. de Waal, a biologist and animal expert, has been at the forefront of studying animal emotions. He believes that animals, just like us, can have feelings, and there's science to back up that claim. "For animals, we've gone through the same sort of stages, in the sense that, since animals don't talk, their feelings were denied," de Waal explains. His work, spanning decades, challenges the notion that emotions are exclusive to humans.

Bees and depression

In a study conducted in 2011, researchers decided to study the emotional landscape of honeybees and see how bees react to stressful situations. They subjected these insects to a test by shaking them around and the results were startling. Analysis of the bees' brains revealed that their brains had decreased levels of serotonin, which are precisely the kind of changes associated with anxiety, depression, and other negative psychological states in humans.

This groundbreaking research found that bees could feel emotions similar to anxiety and depression [Goodfruit] Pulse Nigeria

This research opens the door to the possibility that other insects may have the ability to be aware of their feelings. Previous research has already shown that honey bees and bumble bees are creatures with high intelligence. They can understand zero, do simple math, and even recognise human faces.

Lars Chittka, a scientist at Queen Mary University of London, furthered these findings. His lab's research showed a great aspect of bees' emotional lives. "They're usually optimistic when successfully foraging, but can become depressed if momentarily trapped by a predatory spider. Even when a bee escapes a spider, her demeanour changes; for days after, she's scared of every flower," Chittka explains.

The summary of the research and findings all seem to suggest that bees might not be able to express feelings like we do, but they are creatures with emotions too.

Did you know that bees can get sad and depressed just like you?

Scientists are discovering that animals, from octopuses to bees, might experience emotions like humans, even though they can't tell us in words.

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Bees and depression

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