“Insightful” Animals Surprise Scientists by Solving Puzzles

A new study on June 4 of 2026, conducted by researchers in Finland, specifically at the Universities of Oulu, Helsinki, and Turku, found that bumblebees could use tools to solve after the puzzle was solved. This suggests that even though bees have small brains, they are capable of adaptive thinking instead of trial-and-error methods.

Insight is where the answer to a problem comes in a “aha-moment”, where pieces suddenly fall into place, instead of repetitive, trial-and-error in systematically testing every possibility and then checking it. Computers often use repetitive algorithms to test every single possibility in the blink of an eye, or in other words, brute forcing. For humans, it is inefficient to brute force since we cannot multitask as well as computers. We use insightful thinking and process of elimination, so we ultimately only have to test a few possibilities.

In 1913, a German Psychologist named Wolfgang Köhler set up a famous experiment that changed how scientists thought about animal intelligence: the power of insight. The experiment was where he strung a banana out of reach and set up a “playground” for some chimpanzees with some various items, as in, boxes, poles, and sticks lying around to help reach the banana.

After some fruitless (no pun intended) attempts to reach the banana by brute force like jumping or reaching, the chimpanzees began to think insightfully. They stacked the boxes and reached the banana! Other studies have shown that crows are also apparently able to think insightfully. They have been shown using rocks and/or twigs to help pry open a crack in the tree if their prey is inside, or using rocks to break open colonies of bugs.

So for the experiments with the bees, there were four stages. In the first stage, the scientists built a 1.3 inch (3.2 cm) tall testing “arena”. This space wasn’t tall enough for the bees to fly in. There was also an artificial blue flower with a sugary treat in the center. The also let the bees get used to having a foam ball around.

For the second stage, the scientists placed the foam ball on the “flower”. The bees successfully rolled the ball off the “flower”, so they could get the sugar. This taught the bees that the ball, as a round object, could be rolled.

For the third stage, the scientists placed the “flower” on the ceiling so the bees couldn’t fly up and get it. There were also some holes on the floor to place the ball in, and one was directly under the flower. Some bees managed to roll the ball into the hole under the flower, then climb the ball to get to the sugar dot. Also note that the bees who weren’t given a chance to get used to the ball and the “flower” failed at this stage and the later stages of the experiment.

To make sure the bees weren’t just getting lucky, the scientists added walls around some holes. They still ended with the same result that the bees were rolling the ball into the correct hole while avoiding the walls to get to the sugar dot.

This study proves that many other animals have insight, and not just chimpanzees or crows. There are still some arguments going on about whether some invertebrates, like octopi or squid, have insight.

News For Kids: https://newsforkids.net/articles/2026/06/11/bumblebees-surprise-scientists-by-solving-puzzles/

CNN Science: https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/04/science/bumble-bees-insight-problem-solving

Science Direct: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982209018417