Some insect-pollinated plants produce poisonous substances, so do bees visit those, and if so, can they ’control’ the amount of natural plant poisons entering their hives? Jürgen Tautz goes to China to investigate. 

Humans introduce numerous poisons into the environment, especially those known as agrochemicals. The effects of this on honey bees are being investigated closely, even if not all of the details can be evaluated conclusively yet. But how do honey bees react to poisons that occur naturally in nectar? Are there even poisonous nectars?

We investigated these questions in China. The Thunder God Vine (Triptery