Caffiene and Bees

Natalie · June 24, 2009, 12:52:47 PM

I read somewhere that bees react more aggressively to a beekeeper who had been consuming caffeine.
It peaks my curiousity but I cannot find any other information anywhere about it.
Anyone else have some insight you can share?

Kathyp · June 24, 2009, 12:54:28 PM

if i am not drinking coffee, i am drinking tea. if my bees are more aggressive, i do not notice it. perhaps i am more aggressive?

Natalie · June 24, 2009, 01:11:03 PM

I am a tea drinker myself but from what I understand they can smell or detect the caffeine in your system and they don't like it.
I think Tillie mentioned it once as well but I don't have any other info on it.

Hethen57 · June 24, 2009, 01:15:34 PM

I'm a big time coffee drinker and often check my bees in the morning, coffee in hand, and they don't have any unusual reaction...even with my fat head looking in the entrance to see the cluster and watching them come and go on the landing deck..haha

Cheryl · June 24, 2009, 02:45:40 PM

Fascinating. I will do my own observations, as my bees are on the 'hot' side. If I notice anything worth remarking on, I will post it here. May take some time though, I've only got two hives atm, and don't check them every week.

luvin honey · June 24, 2009, 03:05:18 PM

Fascinating! By your thread title, I thought you were going to propose adding caffeine to their syrup or water to get them working even harder!!!

Last time I did a check, my bees were really docile until I opened my mouth and talked to them. Yikes! They didn't like it. I didn't think my breath was offensive, but now I'm wondering what I had last consumed. Tea, maybe? I will pay attention to this one :)

Natalie · June 24, 2009, 03:15:58 PM

Bees don't like your breath because of the carbon dioxide you breath out.
I am not sure why they find the carbon dioxide offensive but they do, I always try to breath talk away from their direction when I am working and to not breath in close proximity of them.
I would love to find out about how the caffeine stirs them up, if its something from your breath as well or from your pores etc.

Cheryl · June 24, 2009, 03:24:20 PM

Bees respond to carbon dioxide because that is how they find the most vulnerable place to sting a furry predator. We furless humans are especially vulnerable!! LOL

Mason · June 24, 2009, 04:13:49 PM

They don't mind Diet Mountain Dew,

Interestingly enough, bees have been administered a variety of drugs including cocaine in the study of addiction. Not surprisingly it does not increase production but makes them great pole dancers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/science/06bees.html

Hethen57 · June 24, 2009, 04:25:40 PM

I must have bee friendly breath :-D because I blow my bees down from the inner cover all the time when I am changing their syrup jar and they don't get agitated...but they do move out of the way...so they probably don't love it. :-*

jdpro5010 · June 24, 2009, 04:27:13 PM

Quote from: Hethen57 on June 24, 2009, 04:25:40 PM
I must have bee friendly breath :-D because I blow my bees down from the inner cover all the time when I am changing their syrup jar and they don't get agitated...but they do move out of the way...so they probably don't love it. :-*

You sure you just didn't knock them out? :-D

Cheryl · June 24, 2009, 07:21:54 PM

Quote from: Mason on June 24, 2009, 04:13:49 PM
They don't mind Diet Mountain Dew,

Interestingly enough, bees have been administered a variety of drugs including cocaine in the study of addiction. Not surprisingly it does not increase production but makes them great pole dancers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/science/06bees.html

Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!! Hehehe.....

Great article, BTW.

the kid · June 24, 2009, 09:22:35 PM

the girls never mind when I go in the hive ,,not from the coffee any way ,, and I drink no less then a pot and a half a day .. the norm is two or three .. I don't use any gear ,, and little smoke ,,so if they got out of the cell on the wrong side of the hive ,, I know real fast ..

Brian D. Bray · June 25, 2009, 01:08:31 AM

There are a number of things you do not want to consume prior to inspecting bees, or maybe even going close to the bee yard.
Some will just make the bees more aggressive than normal, others Will trigger an immediate attach response. Some people who consume or wear these items on a regular basis usually don't notice any difference because they have no reference.
Those items are:
Products with caffeine: coffee, sodas, sports and pep drinks.
Products containing Alcohol.
Bananas.
Strong Perfumes or Calognes.
There's a few other's I can't remember at the moment.

Natalie · June 25, 2009, 01:22:13 AM

Brian does that mean I should stop eating bananas and drinking coffee with booze in it while I work the hives? I should probably stop dousing myself with jean nate' before I go out there too huh? :-D
It does get kind of hard to balance a coffee mug on my knee and hold a banana in my mouth while I bang on the sides of the hive. :-D
Its a really cool trick I saw a professional beekeeper do at a demonstration the other day.
The bees just love it!!!! :-D
The innocent bystanders..eh not so much :roll:

So in all seriousness, do you think the bees are getting the smell off your breath or through your skin or whatMaybe its some kind of chemical change that happens and that is the scent they get and no so much the direct scent of the food or drink.
I wonder how many hours in advance of eating or drinking things they can detect it.

Brian D. Bray · June 25, 2009, 01:47:15 AM

Quote from: Natalie on June 25, 2009, 01:22:13 AM
Brian does that mean I should stop eating bananas and drinking coffee with booze in it while I work the hives? I should probably stop dousing myself with jean nate' before I go out there too huh? :-D
It does get kind of hard to balance a coffee mug on my knee and hold a banana in my mouth while I bang on the sides of the hive. :-D
Its a really cool trick I saw a professional beekeeper do at a demonstration the other day.
The bees just love it!!!! :-D
The innocent bystanders..eh not so much :roll:

So in all seriousness, do you think the bees are getting the smell off your breath or through your skin or whatMaybe its some kind of chemical change that happens and that is the scent they get and no so much the direct scent of the food or drink.
I wonder how many hours in advance of eating or drinking things they can detect it.

I hope what I'm going to say is taken in the right way, I'm trying to make a legitimate point here not be racist.
In my travels around the world, back in the days when my smeller still worked, I noticed that people from different countries smelled different. The Most Orientals smelled like sticky rice, the Koreans like Kimchee, the Germans like Saurkruat, the British like Boiled beef and parsnips, and the Irish like peat moss and potatoes. The Turks and other arab people smelled of garlic, and most Africans like meat that had been cured too long before it was prepared.

People smell, to foriegners, like the principal foods they eat. Bees, having a much more acute smell orientation than people would notice the differences more readily.

Natalie · June 25, 2009, 01:53:10 AM

I understand what you are saying, I don't think anyone will take that in a different way than what its meant.
I know what you mean and it makes sense.

JP · June 25, 2009, 08:05:59 AM

http://www.aol.com.au/news/story/papua-new-guinean-cannibals-claim-japanese-people-taste-best/1498431/index.html

...JP

BoBn · June 25, 2009, 10:19:53 AM

Quote from: Brian D. Bray on June 25, 2009, 01:47:15 AM
People smell, to foriegners, like the principal foods they eat. Bees, having a much more acute smell orientation than people would notice the differences more readily.

Yup. I have been told that people from North America smell like sour milk because we consume so much dairy product.

Maybe if you lived on a diet of pollen & honey ...

Natalie · June 25, 2009, 12:09:52 PM

JP, that is nuts!