小腦袋中的智慧

Scientists in Britain have managed to teach bumblebees2 to pull strings3 to get to food and then pass on what they have learned to others in their colony4—showing a high level of intelligence despite their tiny brains.

英國科學家已經計劃去訓練大黃蜂拉動繩子以取得食物，并且將它們學到的技能傳授給這一種群中的其它蜜蜂，這一行為展現了小腦袋中蘊藏的大智慧。

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London said the experiments， often used to test the intelligence of apes and birds， showed for the first time that some insects5 are up to the task， and can also pass skills on through several generations.

英國倫敦瑪麗皇后大學的研究員們談到，這一實驗經常用于測試猿類和鳥類的智商，而這次是第一次發現了某些昆蟲也能完成這項任務并且能把技巧傳遞給后代們。

The findings add to the evidence suggesting the ability for“culture spread”—the ability to learn and pass on knowledge and skills—may not be exclusive6 to humans.

這次發現為動物擁有學習并傳授知識與技能，即“文化傳播”的能力的說法提供了證據。這一能力可能并不是人類獨有的。

In the research， published in the journal PLOS Biology， the scientists were able to train 23 out of a group of 40 bees to pull strings with their legs and feet.

在《公共科學圖書館生物學》刊登的研究報告說明，科學家已經能夠訓練使40只蜜蜂中的23只用腿腳拉動繩子。

The strings were attached to discs—or artificial7 “flowers”—containing food at their center but placed under a transparent8 screen. The bees， spotting9 the food under the screen， learned to pull the “flowers” out by pulling the string with their legs and feet to be able to get to it.

繩子會與中央放了食物的磁盤或者人造花相連接，但食物會放在一塊透明的隔板下。蜜蜂會朝向隔板下的食物，學著用腿腳拉動繩子將花拉出，以便拿到食物。

From another group of bees given the chance to solve the task without any training， only two of 110 were successful.

而讓另一組沒有經過訓練的蜜蜂去完成這個任務，110只蜜蜂中只有兩只成功了。

Another group of bees was then allowed to observe the trained bees pulling the strings， and 60 percent of them successfully learned the skill. Finally， trained bees were put in colonies， and the scientists found the technique spread successfully to a majority10 of the colonys worker bees.

還有一組蜜蜂被安排觀察已經被訓練過的蜜蜂怎樣拉繩子，其中的60%成功地學到了這項技能。最后，訓練過的蜜蜂被放進整個族群中。科學家們發現這一技巧被成功傳授給了絕大多數工蜂。

Lars Chittka， a Queen Mary University professor who guided the project， said the team is interested in figuring out the brain processes behind the bees learning and teaching skills.

瑪麗皇后大學里指導這一項目的勞斯·奇卡教授表示，研究小組對于探尋隱藏在蜜蜂學習與教授技能行為背后的大腦運行過程很感興趣。