Study Finds Honey Bees Get Addicted to Caffeine

Posted on October 16, 2015

A new study has found honey bees have a craving for caffeine. The study led by University of Sussex researchers also found honey bees will do more waggle dances to point other bees in the direction of caffeinated nectar.

The researchers say honey bees find caffeine so irresistible that they choose it over equal quality food that lacks caffeine. The researchers suspect that some plants may lace their nectar with caffeine to pass off less quality forage. They also say caffeine in nectar may ultimately benefit the plant, not the pollinator.

Dr Margaret Couvillon. leader of the study from University of Sussex's Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI), says in a statement, "These new findings are a reminder that, while mutually dependent, the interests of plants and pollinators don't always align. Some plants, through the action of a secondary compound like caffeine that is present in nectar, may be tricking the honey bee by securing loyal and faithful foraging and recruitment behaviours, perhaps without providing the best quality forage."

The bees addiction to caffeine was tested in the lab using a caffeinated sucrose solution. It was also tested in the field using feeders with the caffeinated solution and uncaffeinated solution. The found the caffeine caused honey bees to forage more and increase waggle dances. The researchers say the caffeine quadrupled the recruitment dances of bees to those feeders in comparison to uncaffeinated controls. The bees were also more persistent about returning to the caffeinated nectar site even after the feeders had dry. The bees were also less inclined to search for other sources after sipping caffeine.

A research paper on honey bee caffeine addiction was published here in the journal, Current Biology.

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