
The Caffeinated Lives of Bees - dnetesn
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/19/science/the-caffeinated-lives-of-bees.html?action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront
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ohbleek
Their conclusions are confusing. The simplest explanation does not involve any
bee psychology assumptions, but instead:

increased waggle dance from caffeine -> more energy exerted -> more trips to
nectar to keep up energy levels

this assumes that caffeine has a stimulating effect the bees, but it still
seems to be the simplest explanation

EDIT: now that I look at it, it's also possible that flowers containing
caffeine have higher quality nectar under typical conditions, and so
on....there are a lot of possibilities

~~~
A010
It's right here:

> But the caffeinated nectar was not nutritionally better than the plain
> nectar. In effect, Dr. Couvillon said, caffeine “causes the bee to
> overestimate the quality of the resource.”

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a8da6b0c91d
The report had a weird take that the caffeine must be tricking the bees, to
their detriment. More likely is that the bees recognize that caffeine is good
and healthy. The body of research on caffeine's vitamin like health benefits
is enormous. It's simply not to be consider a vice or something to avoid.

~~~
copsarebastards
> The body of research on caffeine's vitamin like health benefits is enormous.

Vague not-really-scientific claims like this make me immediately suspicious.
People who make claims like this usually fall into one of two categories:

1\. They're trying to sell something.

2\. They're crazy.

I looked back through your post history and found this:

> Cannabis is de facto legal throughout the USA. I repeat: marijuana is in
> practice legal in America, and all these people talking about drug charges
> ruining lives don't know what they're talking about.

Yep, you're crazy.

~~~
herbig
That's not really a crazy statement at all.

Marijuana is, in practice, legal in America.

Yes, this person is misinformed as to the number of ridiculous petty drug
charges in America. Still not crazy.

And while I wouldn't say caffeine has "vitamin like" health benefits, since
you know, the research on vitamins shows their health benefits are
questionable, I would say the body of research on caffeine's health benefits
is enormous.

~~~
copsarebastards
> Marijuana is, in practice, legal in America.

I'm really not sure what happened to your brain that causes it to concoct this
delusion, but I'm sorry to see that there are two of you with the same
problem.

~~~
herbig
I don't understand the issue with that statement. You understand what "in
practice" means right?

I'm not saying it's technically legal, just that the legal repercussions are
so low that no one seriously considers them when choosing whether or not to
smoke marijuana.

Is that not an accurate statement?

~~~
copsarebastards
> I'm not saying it's technically legal, just that the legal repercussions are
> so low that no one seriously considers them when choosing whether or not to
> smoke marijuana.

> Is that not an accurate statement?

That is not an accurate statement. Incarceration isn't enough of a legal
repercussion for you? Plenty of people are incarcerated each year for
possession.

Also, you've significantly backpedaled by saying "choosing whether to smoke
marijuana". "Marijuana is legal" is a statement about a lot more crimes than
smoking (which in fact is actually legal--if somehow a lit joint fell out of
the sky and landed on your lips, it would be legal to inhale). Possession,
manufacture, sale, and paraphernalia are all illegal. A large portion of
people incarcerated for marijuana-related crimes are incarcerated for crimes
that aren't smoking or even possession.

And that's not even looking at drug testing and its employment implications.

~~~
herbig
Yeah I don't think I'm backpedalling. I'm actually starting to question your
sanity, but I guess we'll have to disagree.

~~~
copsarebastards
"Marijuana is de-facto legal" to "smoking marijuana is de-facto legal" is a
huge backpedal.

