So basic: Bees apparently can’t resist caffeinated nectar

OCTOBER 16, 2015

by Eric Hopton

Bees, like too many humans, can be tricked into paying a heavy price for a shot of caffeine on their way to work. Work for most bees, involves a lot of nectar collection along with plenty of “waggle dancing” to direct sweet-toothed comrades to the rich sticky pollen of their food plants. These activities can be manipulated by duplicitous plants which, by lacing their nectar with caffeine, sucker the insects into believing they are getting a superior product. Sounds like a few mega-sized coffee chains don’t you think?

This is an anomaly in the usually-cosy symbiotic world of plant and pollinator-- and the plants come out here as the clear winners. The nectar of many flowering plants contains caffeine in low concentrations because it works to deter potential herbivorous predators. Caffeine is found in about half of all nectar-producing plants but doesn’t always work in the bees’ favor.

The caffeine con

“We describe a novel way in which 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 behaviors, perhaps without providing the best quality forage,” says Margaret Couvillon of the University of Sussex.

“The effect of caffeine is akin to drugging, where the honey bees are tricked into valuing the forage as a higher quality than it really is. The duped pollinators forage and recruit accordingly” adds Roger Schürch, of the University of Sussex and the University of Bern.

Earlier studies showed honey bees were better at learning and remembering particular scents when they are under the influence of caffeine which suggested a possible role for “reward pathways” in the bees’ brains.

“I could not help but wonder how caffeine would affect the natural behaviors as seen in the field,” says Couvillon.

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Caffeine Consumption Slows Down Brain Development, Rat Study Shows

Sep. 24, 2013 — Humans and other mammals show particularly intensive sleeping patterns during puberty. The brain also matures fastest in this period. But when pubescent rats are administered caffeine, the maturing processes in their brains are delayed.

This is the result of a study supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

Children's and young adults' average caffeine consumption has increased by more than 70 per cent over the past 30 years, and an end to this rise is not in sight: the drinks industry is posting its fastest-growing sales in the segment of caffeine-laden energy drinks. Not everybody is pleased about this development. Some people are worried about possible health risks caused in young consumers by the pick-me-up.

Researchers led by Reto Huber of the University Children's Hospital Zurich are now adding new arguments to the debate. In their recently published study conducted on rats, the conclusions call for caution: in pubescent rodents, caffeine intake equating to three to four cups of coffee per day in humans results in reduced deep sleep and a delayed brain development.

Peak level during puberty

Both in humans and in rats, the duration and intensity of deep sleep as well as the number of synapses or connections in the brain increase during childhood, reaching their highest level during puberty and dropping again in adult age. "The brain of children is extremely plastic due to the many connections," says Huber. When the brain then begins to mature during puberty, a large number of these connections are lost. "This optimisation presumably occurs during deep sleep. Key synapses extend, others are reduced; this makes the network more efficient and the brain more powerful," says Huber.

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Bees Get a Buzz from Flower Nectar Containing Caffeine

Mar. 7, 2013 — You may need a cup of coffee to kick start the day but it seems honeybees also get their buzz from drinking flower nectar containing caffeine. Publishing in Science, researchers have shown that caffeine improves a honeybee's memory and could help the plant recruit more bees to spread its pollen.

In tests honeybees feeding on a sugar solution containing caffeine, which occurs naturally in the nectar of coffee and citrus flowers, were three times more likely to remember a flower's scent than those feeding on just sugar.

Study leader Dr Geraldine Wright, Reader in Neuroethology at Newcastle University, explained that the effect of caffeine benefits both the honeybee and the plant: "Remembering floral traits is difficult for bees to perform at a fast pace as they fly from flower to flower and we have found that caffeine helps the bee remember where the flowers are.

"In turn, bees that have fed on caffeine-laced nectar are laden with coffee pollen and these bees search for other coffee plants to find more nectar, leading to better pollination.

"So, caffeine in nectar is likely to improve the bee's foraging prowess while providing the plant with a more faithful pollinator."

In the study, researchers found that the nectar of Citrus and Coffea species often contained low doses of caffeine. They included 'robusta' coffee species mainly used to produce freeze-dried coffee and 'arabica' used for espresso and filter coffee. Grapefruit, lemons, pomelo and oranges were also sampled and all contained caffeine.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130307145257.htm