Honeybees Susceptible to Cocaine Addiction

Despite the fact that cocaine repels most insects, researchers have found that honeybees can become addicted to the substance and even suffer withdrawal symptoms. Bees on cocaine behave the same way humans do, throwing themselves into highly energetic dance routines and talking incessantly to their nest mates.

From The Guardian:

The research, carried out at Macquarie University in Sydney, examined the behaviour of the bees after returning from a trip looking for food.

“When foraging honeybees discover a particularly good source of pollen or nectar, they fly back to the hive and perform a symbolic dance for their nest mates,” said Dr Andrew Barron. “This is a specialised form of communication to tell their nest mates about the rewards they have found.”

But after dabbing low doses of cocaine on the bees’ backs before they went out, the researchers observed that when they returned they were more likely to dance for their nest mates, and performed particularly vigorous routines explaining where the food was located.

The dance language gave Barron and his colleagues an indication of what was going on in the bees’ brains. Rather like a cokehead in a crowded nightclub, cocaine made the bees much more enthusiastic communicators. This was not simply because they were generally more energetic: the extra enthusiasm was in order to communicate with nest mates.

When the researchers forced the bees to go ‘cold turkey’ by removing the cocaine, the bees displayed withdrawal symptoms. Given a learning test to see how they were doing, the bees’ performance crashed.

The researchers said that the bees’ dance moves weren’t wild and out of control, but actually rigidly structured. And, they didn’t begin their frenzied dancing during inappropriate times or in inappropriate places. No word on whether they’ve begun pacing and fidgeting or frantically organizing their kitchens at 3am.

Link [The Guardian]
Photo credit: Flickr user david.nikonvscanon

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