Scientists studying how humans might communicate with aliens believe that honeybees could offer an important clue. While bees are small insects known for collecting nectar from flowers, researchers say they have surprisingly advanced brains.

An eight-year-long study found that honeybees can solve simple mathematical problems. Scientists observed that bees were able to add and subtract, understand the difference between odd and even numbers, and even grasp the idea of zero. They were also able to match symbols with numbers.

These findings made scientists think about whether mathematics could be used as a common way to communicate, even between very different species.

Researchers shared their views in a piece published in The Conversation. They pointed out that humans and bees are very different from each other, yet both can understand basic maths.

“If two species considered alien to each other, humans and honeybees, can perform mathematics, along with many other animals, then perhaps mathematics could form the basis of a universal language,” researchers argue.

This idea is part of a thought experiment published in the journal Leonardo. The authors explained that bees and humans separated from a common ancestor more than 600 million years ago, but both developed communication skills, social behaviour, and mathematical abilities.

“The ancestors of bees and humans diverged over 600 million years ago, yet we both possess communication, sociality, and some mathematical ability," the writers wrote.

The researchers say their work suggests that if extraterrestrial species exist and have advanced brains, they might also understand mathematics.

“If there are extraterrestrial species, and they have sufficiently sophisticated brains, then our work suggests they may have the capacity to do mathematics,” researchers say.

Between 2016 and 2024, scientists tested bees in outdoor experiments. The bees willingly took part because they were rewarded with sugar water. During these tests, researchers found that bees could:

  • Perform simple addition and subtraction

  • Tell the odd numbers from the even ones

  • Arrange quantities in order

  • Understand the concept of zero

This is not the first time scientists have used maths to try to communicate with aliens. The space probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, now far beyond our solar system, carry Golden Records with mathematical symbols engraved on them. These were designed so that aliens might understand them.

Similarly, the Arecibo message, sent into space in 1974, used a pattern of 1,679 zeros and ones. The message explained numbers from one to ten and the atomic numbers of elements that make up DNA, with the hope that intelligent life might decode it.

Scientists say these efforts show that mathematics has long been seen as a possible bridge between humans and unknown life forms in the universe.