You may have heard that bees dance, but did you know that they get high on cocaine too?  Scientists in Australia are studying the biochemistry of addiction by dropping liquefied freebase cocaine on bees’ backs, and finding that they react similarly to humans using the drug.  Unlike industrial beekeepers who feed bees the other kind of coke: High Fructose Corn Syrup, these bees are getting the real thing.

The researchers found that the buzzing bees experience impaired judgment, suffer withdrawal symptoms, become overly enthusiastic about things that wouldn’t ordinarily excite them, and dance all night long to terrible music.  Okay, so maybe there was no disco, but they did dance more:

On cocaine the bees “danced more frequently and more vigorously for the same quality food,” Dr. Barron said. “They were about twice as likely to dance” as undrugged bees, and they circled “about 25 percent faster.” - NY Times

It would be great if the study helps develop ways to stop drug abuse, as the researchers hope.  And let’s hope they have a good detox program for the bees.

takepart by helping to save disappearing honeybees and learn about Colony Collapse Disorder with Haagen Dazs.  For an added bonus, check out a bee dance video after the jump.

Photo: elarmo’s Flickr Photostream (Creative Commons)