Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Researchers from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the Université Paris-Sud, the Cyprus University of Technology, and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens have conducted a breakthrough research proving that honeybees actually bite prey too small to be stung.
In a paper published in Plos One online journal, the research team provides an in-depth investigation of the possible anaesthetic properties of 2-heptanone (2-H) - a chemical secreted when a honeybee in defence attacks a minute pest by biting it -and examines whether 2-H acts as a local anaesthetic on the mammalian peripheral nervous system.
The scientists suggest that the finding could lead honeybee research to new directions, while the 2-heptanone extracted from the honeybee could prove useful as a local anesthetic in both human and veterinary medicine. UK-based supplier of honeybee health products VITA has already praised the interesting findings and patented the use of the substance as a compound of local anaesthesia.
