University of Vermont ecologist Leif Richardson and his colleagues have discovered something surprising:bees use the toxic chemicals in plant nectar as their own pharmacy. Richardson, in UVM's Gund Institute, talked with Scientific American's Christopher Intagliata about this for SciAm's "Sixty Second Science" podcast. Listen here. The original study in the journal The Proceedings of the Royal Society B drew wide media attention for its observation that bees seem to self-medicate on the caffeine, nictotine, and other toxins that plants produce for their own defense. Stories appeared in UPI, the Weather Channel and many other outlets.