Control of performance by short-term memory in honeybees

Individual honeybees foraging at a laboratory window were trained with a correction method to choose between blue and yellow targets, one of which contained sucrose solution. There were two trials on each visit, with the locus of the sucrose predictable only on the second. Animals differentially rewarded on Trial 2 for choosing the rewarded color of Trial 1, for choosing the alternative color, or for choosing the target in the rewarded position of Trial 1 independently of its color, all showed a small but persistent preference for the rewarded color, with no significant preference for the rewarded position. When the positions of the colored targets were the same on Trial 2 as on Trial 1 (color and position confounded), there was a more substantial but equally persistent preference on Trial 2 for the rewarded color-position of Trial 1, whether the animals were differentially rewarded for perseveration or for alternation. The results provide further evidence of unlearned control of performance by short-term memory in honeybees but no indication of learned control.