This is an archive article published on July 19, 2022

Opinion New research indicates that bees might be sentient. Living creatures, it is clear, shouldn’t be judged by their cover

Of course, the insects are hardly the first members of the animal kingdom that scientists believe have a claim to personhood; apes, great and small, elephants, species of whales and dolphins — the list goes on.

Chittka's findings are just one more reason — beyond the utilitarian concerns of human self-preservation — to protect the insects. They are essential to the ecological balance and their dwindling numbers are a symptom of a planet in peril.

By: Editorial

July 19, 2022 09:00 AM IST First published on: Jul 19, 2022 at 04:00 AM IST

Imagine, for a moment, a smart four-year-old. She can count, has self-awareness, recognises shapes, and is capable of remembering and internalising traumatic experiences. She has the capacity to continue learning and expanding her horizons. As it turns out, bees have cognitive capabilities comparable to that four year old child.

In The Mind of a Bee, Lars Chittka, professor of sensory and behavioural ecology at Queen Mary University of London and one of the leading authorities on insects, has found that they are far closer to us than previously imagined. His experiments show that bees can count, recognise and distinguish shapes, have awareness and emotions, and feel pain and internalise trauma. Of course, the insects are hardly the first members of the animal kingdom that scientists believe have a claim to personhood; apes, great and small, elephants, species of whales and dolphins — the list goes on. Chittka’s findings are just one more reason — beyond the utilitarian concerns of human self-preservation — to protect the insects. They are essential to the ecological balance and their dwindling numbers are a symptom of a planet in peril.

But just think for a moment of the implications of how far science has come. There is much talk of colonising Mars, or understanding the mysteries of the Big Bang. The smallest hint of water, the possibility of a single-celled organism on another planet, has the imagination leaping to Star Trek plots. But there is life — meaningful, intelligent life — in the crevices of honeycombs on the third rock from the sun. It is, of course, easier to imagine a chimpanzee as being capable of pain and deserving of sympathy — they look so human. Bugs, though, are the stuff of horror movies (though the revulsion doesn’t extend to the delicious honey some of them produce). Perhaps the possibility of their personhood will mean, from now on, there will be a little less judging of life by its cover.

This editorial first appeared in the print edition on July 19, 2022 under the title ‘The buzz of life’.