Do Bees Really Get Drunk on Pollen?
During the warmer months, you can often see bees buzzing around flowers, collecting bugs and food. Some bees fly in strange ways, bouncing off of things or each other and not being able to seem to fly straight. Because of this, many people think that bees can get drunk from eating too much pollen. However, the real story behind bee intoxication is more complex.
Pollen itself does not cause drunkenness in bees. While pollen is an essential protein source for bees, it does not contain any compounds that can cause intoxication. Bees showing signs of drunken behavior have usually consumed something besides plain pollen – fermented nectar.
How Bees Really Get Drunk
The most common cause of bee drunkenness is fermented nectar from flowers Here’s how it happens
- Bees gather nectar, a sweet sugary substance, from flowers to make into honey.
- When nectar sits for too long, yeasts present interact with the sugars, converting them into alcohol through fermentation. This is the same process that turns fruit juices into wine.
- Bees then consume this alcoholic nectar. The ethanol induces intoxicating effects on their brains and bodies, much like alcohol affects humans.
Certain conditions increase the chances of nectar fermenting
- High temperatures – heat accelerates fermentation. Above 70°F is ideal.
- Increased humidity or rain – more water content allows yeasts to thrive.
Flowers like magnolia and citrus trees are especially prone to developing fermented, inebriating nectar. Bees are attracted to the sweet taste but become impaired after drinking it.
In addition to nectar, bees can have access to other surprising alcoholic substances:
- Sap from trees, particularly limes, can ferment rapidly in hot weather.
- Ripe, rotting fruits also contain ethanol that bees will readily ingest. Apples in late summer are a common draw.
So pollen doesn’t get bees drunk by itself, but looking for it gives them chances to eat fruits, nectar, and saps that do.
What Happens to Drunk Bees?
A bee that consumes fermented nectar or other alcohol exhibits behavior similar to a drunk human. Its motor coordination becomes impaired and memory functioning diminished.
Drunk bees often:
- Fly erratically in loops, unable to maintain a straight path
- Crash into objects like trees or walls
- Walk in circles, appearing lost or disoriented
- Lay on their backs, legs wiggling helplessly
These behaviors arise because ethanol induces many of the same neurological effects in bees as in humans. Studies find bees can become addicted to alcohol and even experience withdrawal.
Unfortunately for drunken bees, their intoxicated state does not go over well back at the hive. Guard or soldier bees quickly identify incoming foragers acting unusual through their poor flying or clumsy movements.
Rather than caring for them, the guards severely punish drunk bees:
- Banishing them from the hive entrance
- Biting off legs or wings
- Balling or killing them
This harsh response serves an important purpose – to protect the health and productivity of the overall bee colony.
Bringing fermented nectar or alcohol into the hive can spread dangerous disease among its inhabitants. And drunk bees often lack the coordination to properly do their jobs – like defending the hive.
By swiftly eliminating them, the colony discourages drunkenness and maintains an alcohol-free environment.
Why Bee Drunkenness Matters
Understanding how bees get drunk can help beekeepers and environmentalists do their jobs better. A few implications:
- The phenomenon demonstrates how bees remain highly sensitive to changes in climate and landscape. Warmer seasons increase intoxication risk.
- Identifying flowers, fruits, and trees prone to fermentation allows beekeepers to selectively avoid those food sources.
- Drunk bees serve as an indicator that ethanol levels may be rising in the local ecosystem.
- Studying alcohol’s effects on bees advances knowledge of insect neurobiology and chemical dependencies.
Most importantly, the strange case of the drunk bees shows how closely pollinators are connected to their surroundings. Making sure that landscapes are healthy will help bees do well while keeping them away from things that can make them sick. We can help biodiversity, food production, and the long-term health of our world by protecting bees.
The Bottom Line
While an intoxicated bee bumbling through the air may seem funny, the condition is actually life-threatening for them. The takeaway is:
Pollen itself does not intoxicate bees – it provides essential nutrition.
Alcoholic nectar, sap, and fruit are the real dangers, especially in hot weather.
Drunkenness impairs bees, often resulting in death after being expelled from the hive.
Understanding what causes bees to get drunk allows us to better support these essential pollinators and their delicate environmental relationships.
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We understand honey. Because at the heart of all we do is…
Believe it or not, humans aren’t the only ones who like to indulge in a little alcohol!
After treating themselves to some fermented nectar or sap, bees, too, can feel a little buzz.
But for bees, drinking isn’t nearly as fun as it can be for humans — in fact, it doesn’t go over well with the rest of the colony at all. So what really happens when these hard-working insects let loose?.
We know that alcohol comes from a lot of sources — rye, barley, or agave being some of the most popular.
But a ton of different grains, fruits, or vegetables can turn into alcohol through a process called fermentation.
This chemical process happens when yeast eats the sugars in the other ingredients and creates ethanol, the stuff that gets you drunk.
A bee’s main goal is to collect pollen and nectar from plants and trees.
So when they’re collecting in the summer, they might find some flower nectar that has been fermented. Keep in mind that high temperatures can cause fermentation.
The same thing can happen with trees. Take the lime tree for example. Honeybees love lime trees sweet, delicious sap.
When it’s really hot outside, the sap can easily ferment, and then you have a drunk bee.
Bees act a lot like humans when they get drunk, just a lot cuter.
Their motor functioning is completely thrown off, and their memory processing is impaired.
To us, a drunk bee just looks goofy — bumping into objects or walls, refusing to fly, or even forgetting where it was going and getting lost.
With humans, this sort of behavior is common, drinking being largely socially acceptable. But in the bee world, drunkenness is strictly prohibited.
After taking a swig of some fermented sap or nectar, the drunken bee will return to it’s hive and do the waggle dance (the completely adorable way bees convey messages and communicate directions to the rest of the hive).
When a bee is drunk, it’s not hard for other members of the colony to notice it in their waggle dance.
Once spotted, the guard bees of the hive will immediately begin their investigation and punishment.
Honeybees are quite strict, and their reaction to a criminal offense is borderline medieval.
Without question, the guard bees will bite off the drunken bee’s legs, leaving it with little to no chance of survival. Pretty harsh for an accidental buzz.
This punishment serves as a warning to the rest of the hive.
Work is incredibly important to the honeybee — it’s essential to their short lives.
Indulging in slovenly behavior, accidental or not, results in assured death.
By punishing the drunk bee, the guard bees remind the worker bees to never stray away from their duties to their colony.
What Happens When a Bee Gets Drunk?
A drunk bee has difficulty moving and becomes less coordinated, just as a drunken human might. When bees get really drunk, they might not be able to move at all and will just lie on their backs and wiggle their legs.
In addition, other drunk bees may experience difficulties navigating themselves back to their hive and may suffer flying accidents, such as running into trees in midair.[1]
There are some species of bees that become more aggressive after consuming ethanol, including Africanized honey bees. The study that demonstrated this was terminated after five hours because the drunk bees became aggressive and dangerous to the researchers. [2]
Bees Get Drunk With Fermented Nectar
FAQ
Do bees get drunk on flowers?
Any flower containing fermented nectar can make a bee drunk. The fermentation process is most easily facilitated when the nectar contains a greater amount of water. As nectar usually contains relatively little water, yeasts are not able to grow in it.
How do you know if a bee is drunk?
An intoxicated bee often extends its proboscis. Inebriated bees spend more time flying. If a bee is sufficiently intoxicated, it becomes unable to walk. Inebriated bees typically have many more flying accidents.
Can bees get drunk off nectar?
Yes, bumblebees can become intoxicated from nectar in flowers, including those of mint plants. Nectar can contain various sugars and compounds that, in high concentrations, may affect the bees’ behavior and motor skills.
What does pollen do to a bee?
Bees feed on and require both nectar and pollen. The nectar is for energy and the pollen provides protein and other nutrients.
Can bees get drunk?
Bees can get drunk just like humans do. Like humans, bees are intoxicated by ethanol, the intoxicating substance in alcohol. Ethanol is formed by fermentation when yeast interacts with sugar to ferment a substance and turn it into alcohol. Bees can drink ethanol when yeast interacts with the sugars in nectar to form ethanol.
What are the health benefits of bee pollen?
Pollen is made up of many different chemicals, including proteins, free amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and carotenoids. It may help the immune system, fight inflammation, and protect cells from damage.
Can bees get drunk from consuming nectar in flowers?
Bees have evolved to tolerate some exposure to alcohol, and the occasional encounter with fermented nectar or flowers is not a cause for concern. Their behavior and foraging activities are not substantially influenced by the small amounts of alcohol found in flowers. Thus, the risk of bees getting drunk from consuming nectar in flowers is minimal.
Why do bees get drunk in summer?
In the summer heat, nectar will begin to ferment and create ethanol; bees that digest this fermented nectar will fall prey to the same effects we do when we consume alcohol. Too much heat can also cause tree sap, like that from the lime tree, to ferment, which can make a lot of bees drunk. Rotting apples are also a regular culprit for bees getting drunk.
What happens if a bee is drunk?
If a bee drinks some fermented sap or nectar and then goes back to its hive, it will do the waggle dance, which is a very cute way for bees to send messages and tell other bees what to do. When a bee is drunk, its waggle dance makes it easy for other bees in the colony to tell.
Do bees get drunk on overripe fruit?
This isn’t just a figment of the imagination – bees do indeed get drunk on alcohol-rich nectar from overripe fruits. These little buzzers are known to seek out and consume fermented fruit, leading to a hive-drunk scenario where they clumsily fly back, struggling to communicate their findings effectively.