How Bees Get Buzzed on the Best Kona Coffee by Karen Paterson

After spring rains our coffee trees have millions of blossoms. Instantly, we have bees in our orchards gathering pollen.

We have often wondered why we get so many bees when there are so many other plants they could visit.

A recent article in Science magazine answers our question. Coffee flowers have a caffeine content equal to the caffeine in brewed coffee. Caffeine is a memory enhancer for honeybees. “Honeybees rewarded with caffeine, which occurs naturally in nectar of Coffea and Citrus species, were three times as likely to remember a learned floral scent as were honeybees rewarded with sucrose alone.”

Now we know. Bees are getting buzzed on caffeine.