Bees prefer nectar from plants that appear to add small doses of nicotine and caffeine to the sugary liquid to entice the insects into pollinating them, according to researchers in Israel.

Prof. Ido Izhaki and colleagues from the University of Haifa offered bees artificial nectar with various levels of the two stimulants, along with offerings of just nectar, to see how much of the additives they preferred.

Izhaki says the results showed the bees clearly had a preference for nectar containing nicotine and caffeine at levels found in nature over the “clean” nectar.

But if offered nectar with higher concentrations of nicotine, the bees clearly demonstrated a preference for the drug-free version.

Results also suggested that while the sugars in nectar are there to give bees the energy to pollinate, the stimulants may have resulted from evolutionary processes to make the pollination more efficient.

Further research was needed to determine if the insects actually become addicted to the drugs, Izhaki said.

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