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The article offers news briefs about animals. Biologists at the University of Cambridge and the University of London, both in England, found that bumblebees prefer warmth in flowers. A bee can't fly unless its body temperature is at 86 degrees Fahrenheit, so landing on a warm flower would help it retain its body heat. Scientists working with the Save the Elephants foundation tracked 54 African elephants in northern Kenya with GPS-transmitter collars and found that the elephants avoided hills, as it requires much more energy for them to climb the hills than walking along flat ground. Researchers at the University College London in England discovered a cancer in dogs that is spread by the transmission of cancerous cells during sex.

The article discusses research into bumblebees. In a novel test of insect intelligence, researchers observed that bumblebees, which had spied on a worker bee from another colony feasting on unusual flowers, later tended to visit flowers of the same color. This talent amounts to social learning, which is picking up a new behavior from observations of another animal, say the test's designers, Bradley D. Worden and Daniel R. Papaj of the University of Arizona in Tucson. In that other study, reported in the June 21 Current Biology, Lars Chittka and Ellouise Leadbeater of Queen Mary University of London describe a simple form of bee eavesdropping.

Reports research which showed that bumblebees can navigate outside their nests in the dark. Research by Thomas et al in the January 7, 1999, `Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B'; Bees walking to their destinations; Use of odor and a magnetic compass to navigate; Peak times for bee travel.

Looks at the Amazonian bumblebee and why it walks on the ground when it can fly. Results from a study in the Peruvian rain forest; Details about the bees' nests on the ground.

Discusses the findings of entomologists Sydney A. Cameron and James B. Whitfield concerning the trekking habits of nest-building bumblebees in the Tambopata Nature Reserve in southeastern Peru. Clearance of small trails used as pathways for leaf collecting; Plans to investigate whether bumblebees mark trails with scent.