Why bees love weed -- and why it might even be good for them

[marmar]

Why bees love weed — and why it might even be good for them
New research shows the cannabis extract CBD can improve the health of honeybees, which is good news for farmers

By TROY FARAH
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 8, 2022 2:00PM (EDT)


(Salon) "Isn't it beautiful?" a friend once asked me as we shared a joint in The Netherlands. "We're only smoking flowers."

She was right. Marijuana, the dried and processed product of Cannabis sativa plants, is the flowery part, as opposed to tobacco or tea leaves. When people say they enjoy smoking "bud," it's meant literally. Despite how obvious this may seem, it's always struck me as quietly awe-inspiring.

While humans clearly love these flowers, so do insects, especially bees, albeit for different reasons. And just like medical marijuana has been shown to improve human health by effectively treating epilepsy, chronic pain, chemotherapy nausea and more, insects can benefit from cannabis as well.

Honeybee health is extremely important to farmers who rely on the flying little workers to pollinate more than 100 different crops, which provides about $6.4 billion in annual economic value. But against a backdrop of catastrophic insect decline, driven by the overuse of pesticides and unchecked urbanization, honeybee populations are suffering.

....(snip)....

So these Polish researchers, Patrycja Skowronek, Łukasz Wójcik and Aneta Strachecka, have turned to hemp extracts. Hemp is cannabis that is low in THC, the chemical responsible for the stoney, "high" feeling. In contrast, hemp is high in CBD, a chemical largely associated with the medical benefits of cannabis.

Previous research by this team has shown that hemp extracts increased the lifespan of honeybees and could "help them with the fight against environmental pollution and the increase of oxidative stress." ............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/10/08/why-bees-love-weed--and-why-it-might-even-be-good-for-them/

[SergeStorms]

1. The things you learn on DU.

Cat videos aside, DU is a wealth of information. Not all of it is useful, but some of it is great to store away for future use.

Thanks for posting, marmar!

[crickets]

2. Makes sense. Let the little bees have their weed. nt

[getagrip_already]

3. Note that they are talking about extracts, not flowers.....

Honeybees aren't strongly attracted to cannabis plants because of little useable nectar or pollen.

Cannabis is a self pollinating plant, and the pollen hasn't evolved to attract bees. Same with nectar.

They will visit it if there is nothing else available, but it isn't nutritious to them.

[rubbersole]

5. Bummer.

I was thinking about a honey high. 🍯

[getagrip_already]

6. That does exist, but it isn't cannabis....

It's a hallucinogen. It's called Mad Honey.

https://www.realmadhoney.com/hallucinogenic-honey-from-nepal/

[Rebl2]

4. A bit

off topic, but I have had so many honey bees this year! We have flowers, but have for many years. For the last month or so they like my hummingbird feeder’s, but have liked the flowers since spring. I don’t know if someone close by has a hive I don’t know about. There is a small wooded area behind me and large area across the street. This has been very unusual though. For so many years we had so few honey bees. Hope they come back next spring!