A French beekeeper, who calls himself Nicholas Trainerbees, has come to the attention of social media outlets because of his peculiar hobby: he trains bees to collect honey from weed which he calls "cannahoney."
The Frenchman describes himself as an advocate for medical marijuana and legalization. He claims that he does not create honey per se. Instead, what he has made was "rather a training technique whereby the bees collect resin and use it in the beehive." According to Trainerbees, "I have trained bees to do several things, such as collect sugar from fruits, instead of using flowers."
Trainerbees states that he has "been passionate about nature since childhood." As a child, Nicholas was hyperactive. He left school because the educational system deemed him unsuitable. At a young age, discovered that cannabis helped him address the problem, therefore, "I began consuming before the age of 10."
"For some time I had known about the health benefits of bee products such as honey, propolis, pollen, wax, and royal jelly and also about the benefits of cannabis." His passion for insects and cannabis was noticed by people. Suggestions were made to apply his extensive knowledge in both areas to create a kind of honey with cannabis. He took notice of these suggestions when he realized great results can come about the process if the bees were able to collect the resin correctly. "Everything that passes through the body of a bee is improved." Due to this "[t]he aim arose for me to get the bees to obtain this resin."
When Trainerbees initially began, some people were skeptical because bees are generally attracted to flowers that produce nectar and pollen. Bees are normally not attracted to cannabis because the plant is a wind pollinator therefore; it produces no nectar to which insect pollinators such as bees are attracted to. A study in Punjab, India though has shown that honey bees do get attracted to the abundant wild male cannabis (which produces a lot of pollen) during times of floral dearth or lack of sufficient nectar producing flowers.
He has also received and criticism for his use of bees. He claims "bees that produce the cannahoney are not affected by cannabinoids because they do not have an endocannabinoid system." The endocannabinoid system is found in mammals. This is the body's receptor to cannabinoids (the compounds found in cannabis such as THC; the chemical which gets you high) which is absent in insects according to a study in 2006.
Trainerbees dedicates most of his time and efforts in training bees and making cannahoney. He says "I work alone with my wife and I do not have time or money to do much else."
