"A study by researchers at the University of California Berkeley has found that ethanol is surprisingly common in floral nectar, the sugary fuel that keeps pollinators alive. Yeast feeding on those sugars produces trace amounts of alcohol, and in this study, it showed up in 26 of the 29 plant species sampled."
"Despite that steady intake, pollinators aren't hurtling around flowers in a state of permanent inebriation. The alcohol arrives in small doses spread across the day, and hummingbirds, in particular, burn through energy at such a rate that anything they ingest is rapidly processed."
"Lab experiments suggest they're perfectly happy to drink nectar containing up to around one percent alcohol, but start turning their beaks up when concentrations climb higher, with visits dropping sharply at around two percent."
"There's also evidence these animals aren't just passively tolerating alcohol but actively processing it. Previous work by the same group has detected ethyl glucuronide - a byproduct of ethanol metabolism also used in human alcohol testing."
Ethanol is prevalent in floral nectar, produced by yeast feeding on sugars. A study found it in 26 of 29 plant species sampled, with one sample reaching 0.056 percent alcohol. Hummingbirds consume significant amounts of nectar daily, leading to an estimated intake of 0.2 grams of ethanol per kilogram of body weight. Despite this, pollinators do not exhibit signs of inebriation. They can tolerate up to one percent alcohol in nectar, and ethanol may influence feeding behavior. Evidence suggests these animals actively process alcohol, similar to humans.
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