The insects secrete invisible markers when they touch their feet on a surface, which can be detected by themselves and other bumblebees. Researchers from the University of Bristol, in the UK, found that bees can distinguish between their own scent, the scent of a relative and that of a stranger. This ability can be used to improve their success at finding good sources of food and avoiding flowers that have already been visited and mined of nutrients. Bee fingerprints “Bumblebees secrete a substance whenever they touch their feet to a surface, much like us leaving fingerprints on whatever we touch,” says the lead author, Richard Pearce. “Marks of this invisible substance can be detected by themselves and other bumblebees, and are referred to as scent-marks.” “We performed three separate experiments with bumblebees, where they were repeatedly exposed to rewarding and unrewarding flowers simultaneously that had footprints from different bees attached to them.” In the study, each flower ty...