> begin the discussion by asking ..... what do we have in common and what is different between the two species. 

Of course there are similarities, some profound. But I question the merit of using honey bees to study, say, alcoholism. This just came out:

The honeybee is being developed as a simple invertebrate model for alcohol-related studies. To date, several effects of ethanol consumption have been demonstrated in honeybees … Our findings significantly improve our understanding of the suitability of honeybees as models for alcoholism-related research and underline the first and foremost function of all conditioned reactions – their adaptive value.  

To date, ethanol has been found to have several effects on honeybees in both social and non-social behaviours. Honeybees have been demonstrated to readily consume ethanol both in captivity and in the field. Ethanol consumption results in impaired locomotion, learning, communication and foraging decisions, as well as increased aggression, analgesia and self-grooming.

Here, we chose vapour as the mode of delivery of ethanol, using a setup similar to that used by Ammons and Hunt to investigate honeybee sensitivity to ethanol and its correlation with aggression.

Miler, K., Kuszewska, K., Privalova, V., & Woyciechowski, M. (2018). Honeybees show adaptive reactions to ethanol exposure. Scientific reports, 8(1), 8707.

[comment: drunk and nasty, that's all we need]

¶

The study of animal behavior is called Ethology. People involved in the work are aware of its potential implications. Patrick Bateson wrote this already 30 years ago:

Much research on animals is not directed primarily towards producing human benefit. It is aimed at understanding natural principles. Animals may be used in such research because they provide a convenient model for a process (e.g. studying pigeons and laboratory rats to understand general features of learning) or when a procedure cannot ethically be carried out with humans (e.g. developmental studies involving environmental restriction). Animals may also be studied because they are particularly appropriate subjects in which to investigate an important or startling phenomenon (e.g. song development in birds or communication in honey bees).  

Research motivated by an intrinsic interest in the animals studied is often particularly difficult to justify to the public in terms of its usefulness to humans. Research workers studying non-humans are often asked 'What does that tell you about people?' The answer to this question may be 'Perhaps nothing'.

Ethologists should not be complacent. Nor should we suppose that, as a result of our activities, we are immune to criticism. On the contrary, we are particularly likely to be the major targets of animal welfare groups because of the supposed 'irrelevance' of our work. So we have to be as vigorous in the justification of ethology as we are in ensuring that the highest standards of welfare are employed in our own work. 

Our active involvement in the issue of humane treatment of animals is necessary because ethologists have the knowledge and training to probe beyond a mere opinion about whether or not an animal might be suffering. It is this expertise and interest that equip us to play a major role in finding the right mix of good science, potential benefit to humans and non-humans and the welfare of non-human animals in research.  

Driscoll, J. W., & Bateson, P. (1988). Animals in behavioural research. Animal Behaviour, 36(6), 1569-1574.

[comment: paradoxically, the more an animal is "like us" -- the greater the reasons not to experiment on it.]

PLB

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