The bumblebee is a discerning nectar shopper. When choosing which flowers to gather the sticky substance from, it might consider a plant’s distance, the shape of the petals and how sugar-rich the nectar is.

But according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, there’s another variable the bees may be considering on a nectar run: How fast can they barf it back up?

Nectar is available in a number of concentrations, even within the same plant species. A recent study of field beans — conducted by the lab that studied bee vomit — found that some flowers produced a light ambrosia of 15 percent sugar, while others went up to a syrupy 57 percent. Although sweeter nectar provides more energy, it is also more viscous, which makes it more time- and energy-consuming to deal with. The thicker the nectar, the longer it takes for a bumblebee to lap up, which cuts into the energy gains the extra sugar provides.

In recent years, a number of researchers have timed bees drinking different concentrations of nectar, and used this information to figure out what sugar levels might be “most appealing to bees.” This knowledge can be used to help entice them to the right crop plants, enabling efficient pollination, said Jonathan Pattrick, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Oxford’s Department of Zoology and the lead author of the new paper.