Do bees have inner lives? Slow-motion video reveals bumblebee behaviour similar to ‘liking’ or ‘disliking’

A new study suggests that bees exhibit 'emotion-like' behaviours; when they taste something good, for instance, they stick out their glossa (tongues) afterwards. Photograph: The Bee Lab at Southern Medical University

When bumblebees taste something good, they reach out their glossa – or insect tongue – for a while afterwards, almost as if they are licking their lips. And when they don’t like something, the insects will shake their heads and wipe their mouths.

Scientists who captured the miniature facial expressions on slow-motion video say the behaviour is consistent with “liking” and “disliking” responses observed in mammals. Their results have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.