Do HoneyBees identify color?

Science Projects dealing with living beings can be a bit complex to set up as no two living creatures are identical. Even within the same species an individual member may have traits that another one may not. Still with insects the number of variable traits is not that many and when it comes to food there may be more than one common trait.

This science experiment will allow you to check if honeybees can identify colors and remember them when they set out hunting for nectar. You will need the help of a beehive cultivator. We are going to use flowers in two color say red and blue, with a dip in between where a fluid can be stored. The red artificial flowers are to be filled with sweet water and the blue ones are to be filled with salty water.

Now the area is to be cordoned off and the beehive cultivator is to release the bees. Notice how long it takes them to identify the red flowers as akin to the nectar and reject the salty blue flowers. Now have the bees returned to the hive by the cultivator. Now switch the places of the blue and red flowers in the area of experimentation.

Have the bees released again. You will notice that they go directly to the red flowers avoiding the blue ones altogether despite the location having been changed. Interesting science project to help confirm that honey bees can indeed identify and remember colors.