image: Honeybee view more
Credit: James Ward
Though many spring flowers have bright advertisements offering sweet rewards to honeybees, some common flowers have not-so-sweet or even toxic nectars. Why plants would try to poison the honeybees they wish to attract is a scientific mystery. The honeybee, which accounts for the pollination of at least 1/3 of the world’s crop plants, may encounter such poisoned nectar in common crop and garden plants such as Rhododendrons and almond trees. Can honeybees learn whether nectar contains toxins, and does this influence their ability as pollinators? Dr Geraldine Wright (Newcastle University) will present data on how toxins in nectar affect a honeybee’s willingness to eat floral nectar on Sunday 1st April at the Society for Experimental Biology’s Annual Meeting in Glasgow.
Honeybees are very clever and can learn to associate almost any colour, shape, texture or scent with food. The newly-sequenced honeybee genome has revealed that honeybees do not have as many genes for taste receptors as other animals of a similar size, such as flies and mosquitoes. This prompted scientists to think that perhaps honeybees had a reduced need to detect and learn about toxins, despite the fact that some floral nectar contains toxins. Work carried out by Dr Wright and colleagues suggests that honeybees may have the ability to react to toxins, even if they cannot taste them.
Researchers found that both the sugar content and the toxins in nectar affected a honeybee’s memory for learned odours. Honeybees learned not to respond to odours associated with toxins within 20 min of eating toxins, and would retain this ability up to 24 hours after eating a toxin. This suggests that honeybees can react to toxins in nectar, but that this ability may mainly be after they have ingested the toxins.
Notes to editors
- This work will be presented in Session A4.14 at 15:00 on Sunday 1st April.
- If using the photo please cite James Ward as the photographer.
- This work was in collaboration with Dr Julie Mustard and Prof Brian Smith at Arizona State University, USA.
- The honeybee genome was sequenced by Dr Hugh Roberston and colleagues at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne.
- Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by the flowers of plants in order to attract pollinating animals.
- Pollination is the process of fertilisation in flowering plants.
Direct scientist contact
Contactable during the meeting via SEB Press Officer.
Before meeting: E-mail: jeri.wright@newcastle.ac.uk
This work will be presented on Sunday 1st April at the Society for Experimental Biology’s Annual Meeting (30th March – 4th April 2007) at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, UK.
Journalists are welcome to attend the meeting. For full details of the programme please visit: http://www.sebiology.org.uk/Meetings/pageview.asp?S=2&mid=&id=738