LONDON - Despite their tiny brains, bumblebees can be trained to score goals using a mini-ball, revealing unprecedented learning abilities, according to a study by scientists from the Queen Mary University of London.

In the study, published in the Feb 23 issue of Science, researchers gave a group of bees a novel goal (literally): to move a ball about half their size into a designated target area to earn them a sugary treat.

To train the bees, scientists created three conditions: some observed a previously trained bee move the furthest ball to the center to gain reward, others received a "ghost" demonstration, where a magnet hidden underneath the platform was used to move the ball, and a third group received no demonstration, where they found the ball already at the center of the platform with reward.