The Overview

         Bees are an essential part of the ecosystem, accounting for one-third of food production and billions of dollars in the global economy. However, there has been a severe decline in the honey bee population. In fact, the global population has declined 40.7% since 2018. This is partly due to a loss of learning and memory skills in the honey bee, caused by harmful pesticides intended to kill bee parasites. 

         In order to address this problem, I designed a two-part experiment to test whether compounds found in tea and coffee could counter the pesticides’ effects. The spatial experiments tested learning and memory in a setting where the bee was allowed to fly free. The Proboscis Extension Reflex, or PER, experiments tested visual and olfactory learning and memory in a setting where the bees were restricted in a harness.

         My key findings were that tea polyphenols and caffeine were able to repair and even improve the bees’ learning and memory after exposure to pesticides. Overall, the visual outperformed the olfactory groups, but tea polyphenols and caffeine were found to be more effective in improving olfactory learning and memory in comparison to visual.

         These findings are crucial because beekeepers can add tea polyphenols and caffeine to their sucrose, which could save millions of bees. My research effectively countered the harmful effects of miticides, thus potentially repairing the bees’ learning and memory and saving not only their lives, but also the beekeeping industry and the ecosystem as a whole.