Dr Joseph Woodgate, of the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at QMUL, said: “This study provided an unprecedented look at where the bees flew, how their behaviour changed as they gained experience and how they balanced the need to explore their surroundings – looking for good patches of flowers – with the desire to collect as much food as possible from the places they had already discovered.”

The researchers identified two categories of flight – exploration and exploitation flights. Exploitation of memorised food sources takes place during efficient trips usually to a single foraging location. This is rarely combined with the exploration of unfamiliar areas.

Read more here: Radar tracking reveals the ‘life stories’ of bumblebees as they forage for food