Maya’s sweet success!

Maya’s sweet success!

On March 4th, we had a great observation of Maya pounding for honey. She located two small stingless bee hives in the trunk of a large tree. The tool that she used to open the hive was one of the heaviest that we have recorded ? over a kilogram! She used both her hands and foot to grasp the tool as she pounded it against the hive. Mark, the juvenile son of Moja, tried to steal some honey, but was severely reprimanded by Maya. This tool using observation coincides nicely with the publication of our previous honey gathering by Goualougo chimps (see Rebecca Morelle’s science story on the BBC at https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7946614.stm).