Dietary ethanol produces endpoint-specific dose responses in honeybees
Ethanol is naturally present in nectar, but we still know little about how pollinators cope with long-term exposure to it at low concentrations. We exposed adult worker honeybees (Apis mellifera carnica Poll.) for eight days to diets containing 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, or 10% ethanol and measured survival, estimated intake, open-field locomotion, sting extension, whole-body trehalose, and hemolymph…
A recent study revealed how honeybees react to varying levels of ethanol in their diet. Ethanol, a naturally occurring substance in nectar, was administered to adult worker honeybees (Apis mellifera carnica Poll.) over an eight-day period in diets ranging from 0 to 10% ethanol concentration. The researchers measured several aspects of the bees' performance, including survival, food intake, movement patterns, sting extension, and trehalose levels in their hemolymph.
They found that exposure to 10% ethanol had a significant impact on the bees' survival, causing them to consume less food, move less efficiently, and explore their environment less. These effects were more pronounced at the higher concentrations of ethanol. However, at lower concentrations (0.1-2%), the bees' performance remained relatively stable, indicating a level of resilience to repeated ethanol exposure.
Importantly, the study found no beneficial effects of ethanol at lower concentrations, suggesting that any potential advantages are not offset by the detrimental impacts observed at higher levels.
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