Bees and wasps are central-place foragers which return to their nest after extended
foraging or hunting trips. When they leave the nest for the first time, they perform
structurally elaborate learning flights to memorise the visual features of the
surrounding environment for guidance on their return. They are also known to perform
learning flights at newly discovered feeding sites. We study these learning flights
in experiments with the buff-tailed bumblebee, Bombus terrestris L., to understand
what and how insects learn. Because B. terrestris nests in the ground and will
collect nectar from ground vegetation, it is possible to compare the learning
flights acquiring information about the nest and a feeding site in circumstances in
which the visual surroundings of each site are very similar. Differences between
nest and feeder departure flights and learning may be related to the greater need of
bees to remember the precise position of their nest hole than the location of
conspicuous flowers.