New species of sweat bee discovered in New York (© Jason Gibbs/Cornell University)

New bee species feeds off of human sweat

4/29/2012

A newly identified species of bee has been creating a buzz recently in New York, because it isn't your typical honey-makin' sweet nectar bee. The petite pollinator instead has a craving for sodium, feeding off people's sweat and using humans as gigantic "salt licks." Entomologists say the tiny insect makes very little honey but nevertheless plays an important role in the reproduction of urban plants, flowers and fruits. It's apparently "mild-mannered" and rarely stings humans. When it does, the bee's pinprick touch rates just a 1 on the four-point pain index for insect stings.

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