Europe PMC · 2026-07-01
Dead honey bees trapped in milkweed flowers cut pollinator visits to those flowers by 37%. The main driver isn't the scavenging ants that gather around the carcasses; it's a direct aversion response among living bees to the presence of dead members of their own species.
Dead honey bees on milkweed flower clusters reduced total floral visitation by 37% compared to control clusters with no trapped bees
Ant densities were 51% higher near dead bees and ants independently reduced visitation by 30%, but path analysis showed the direct deterrent effect of the dead bee itself accounted for 91% of the total reduction
The deterrent effect was stronger and more consistent for honey bee visitors than for non-Apis insects, consistent with a species-specific aversion to dead conspecifics