Nectarivorous insects generally adopt suction or lapping to extract nectar from flowers and it is believed that each species exhibits one specific feeding pattern. In recent literature, large groups of nectarivores are classified as either ‘suction feeders', imbibing nectar through their proboscis, or ‘lappers', using viscous dipping. Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are the well-known lappers by virtue of their hairy tongues. Surprisingly, we found that honeybees also employ active suction when feeding on nectar with low viscosity, defying their classification as lappers. Further experiments showed that suction yielded higher uptake rates when ingesting low-concentration nectar, while lapping resulted in faster uptake when ingesting nectar with higher sugar content. We found that the optimal concentration of suction mode in honeybees coincided with the one calculated for other typical suction feeders. Moreover, we found behavioural flexibility in the drinking mode: a bee is able to switch between lapping and suction when offered different nectar concentrations. Such volitional switching in bees can enhance their feeding capabilities, allowing them to efficiently exploit the variety of concentrations presented in floral nectars, enhancing their adaptability to a wide range of energy sources.

食蜜昆虫通常采用吸吮或舔食的方式从花中提取花蜜，并且据信每个物种都表现出一种特定的摄食模式。在最近的文献中，大群的食蜜动物被归类为“吸食者”，通过它们的长鼻吸取花蜜，或者是“舔食者”，使用粘性浸渍。蜜蜂 ( Apis mellifera ) 因其毛茸茸的舌头而成为著名的采蜜者。令人惊讶的是，我们发现蜜蜂在采食低粘度花蜜时也会采用主动吸力，这违背了它们作为研磨者的分类。进一步的实验表明，当摄入低浓度花蜜时，吸力会产生更高的吸收率，而当摄入含糖量较高的花蜜时，研磨会导致更快的吸收。我们发现蜜蜂吸力模式的最佳浓度与其他典型吸力喂食器的计算结果一致。此外，我们发现饮用模式的行为灵活性：当提供不同的花蜜浓度时，蜜蜂能够在舔食和吸吮之间切换。蜜蜂的这种自愿转换可以增强它们的摄食能力，使它们能够有效地利用花蜜中的各种浓度，从而增强它们对各种能源的适应能力。