Discrimination between learned colors against a new background and in a new place in honeybees, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Abstract

In field experiments, honeybees learned to discriminate between rewarded and unrewarded feeders differing in color. After learning, familiar feeders were presented against a different background or the place of presentation was shifted several meters away. Both innovations decreased the average percentage of correct choices. This decrease is considered to be evidence of “contextual isolation.” This isolation was partial because the discrimination of learned colors was partially retained under the new conditions. This appears to be the first known example of partial contextual isolation. Significant individual differences were revealed. Some bees demonstrated spontaneous color preferences while the others did not. Four out of 34 bees failed to learn the rewarded color even after 30–40 visits.