The Contribution of the Honey Bee to the Study of Time-Sense and Astronomical Orientation

Abstract

About 60 years ago the Swiss physician and naturalist August Forel observed that bees which visited his breakfast table regularly every morning and nibbled from the sweets came always at the same accustomed time and looked for food. They came even if no food was offered, so that the odor or any other stimulus of the food could not have been responsible for the timely visit of the bees. A few experiments inspired by these casual observations led Forel to the conclusion that "the bees remember the hours at which they had usually found sweets … and that they have a memory for time (Zeitgedächtnis)" (Forel [1]).