There is no apparent date on this article, but it appears referenced at
another site
with a date of December 2020.
https://www.bbcearth.com/news/the-extraordinary-lengths-chimps-go-for-honey
The extraordinary lengths chimps go for honey
...
Chimpanzees utilise tools in their quest for honey, all of which are
fashioned out
of sticks. However, a 2009 study in the Flexible and Persistent Tool-using Strategies
in Honey-gathering by Wild Chimpanzees found that the number and range of
tools
they use varies from region to region. Chimpanzees in central Africa will
use anywhere
between two to five tools whereas chimpanzees in east Africa will only use
one or
two tools. It is worth noting that these tools are not used in harmony
with each other,
but one after the other. There is some evidence to suggest that the use of tools is
subjected to a specific sequence - smash open, then extract - particularly among
groups of chimpanzees that use lots of tools.
The ‘honey dip’ tool is used universally, which is a stick with one end chewed till it is
soft to make them more absorbent. Other tools commonly used are probes,
levers
and prys. These tools are stored between campaigns and fresh are only made
when
their predecessors are lost or broken.
The central chimpanzee subspecies (found in central Africa) are the only
group to
pound beehives with clubs. They have been observed to spend most of the day hitting the hive, with one chimp having hit the hive over 100 times until
it opened.
...
The 2009 paper is here
https://files.core.ac.uk/pdf/2612/81196491.pdf
Flexible and Persistent Tool-using Strategies in Honey-gathering by Wild Chimpanzees
Abstract: Several populations of wild chimpanzees use tools to raid bee
nests,
but preliminary observations of chimpanzees in the Congo Basin indicate that they may have developed sophisticated technical solutions to gather honey
that differ from those of apes in other regions. Despite the lack of
habituated
groups within the range of the central subspecies, there have been several reports of different types of tools used by chimpanzees to open beehives and gather honey. Researchers have observed some of these behaviors (honey
dipping) in populations of western and eastern chimpanzees, whereas others (hive pounding) may be limited to this region. Toward evaluating
hypotheses of
regional tool using patterns, we provide the first repeated direct
observations
and systematic documentation of tool use in honey-gathering by a
population of Pan troglodytes troglodytes. Between 2002 and 2006, we observed 40 episodes of tool use in honey-gathering by chimpanzees in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo. Pounding was the most common and successful strategy to open beehives. Chimpanzees at this site used several tools in
a single
tool-using episode and could also attribute multiple functions to a single tool.
They exhibited flexibility in responses toward progress in opening a hive and hierarchical structuring of tool sequences. Our results support
suggestions of
regional tool using traditions in honeygathering, which could be shaped by variation in bee ecology across the chimpanzee range. Further, we suggest
that
these chimpanzees may have an enhanced propensity to use tool sets that could be related to other aspects of their tool repertoire. Clearly, there is
still much to
be learned about the behavioral diversity of chimpanzees residing within
the Congo Basin.
Short video from 2008 of Christophe Boesch discussing and demonstrating
hive raiding
https://www.exploratorium.edu/video/chimpanzees-hive-raiding
Short youtube video of a chimpanzee pounding a hive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkwTqmZdam4
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