Bees get hooked on flowers’ caffeine buzz

It’s no secret that some plants lace their nectar with caffeine in an effort to attract more pollinators, and that buzz sticks around in a bee’s memory. These caffeinated flowers lure naive honeybees to return over and over again — and bring their friends, researchers report October 15 in Current Biology.

When feeding off caffeinated nectar (versus noncaffeinated nectar), honeybees increased their foraging activity and performed four times as many waggle dances to alert other workers to food sources.

Though bees might be more persistent foragers while under the influence of caffeine, they focused mainly on caffeinated sources instead casting a broad search. Plants may also substitute caffeine for sugar, the researchers note, duping bees into gathering nectar that’s less valuable for honey production.