How Do Bees Fly?

The Myth

There are long-held misconceptions regarding bees and flight. The two most popular fallacies state that either bees shouldn’t be able to fly according to physics, or that scientists are unable to figure out how bees manage flight. While the latter of these two was perhaps true in the past, today we know all the intricacies involved in the flight of these little pests… and no, it does not defy physics.

Busting the Myths

The root of the misconception saying that bees defied physics comes from two different sources. The original source dates all the way back to the 1930’s when August Magnan, a French entomologist, stated that the haphazard flapping of bees’ wings should make flight impossible for these little creatures.

The second portion of this myth has to do with the science behind human aviation. Unfortunately, unlike many gifted creatures, humans lack wings and the ability to fly, so instead we have invented our own means to take to the skies in the form of airplanes. These marvels of aviation utilize the four forces of lift, drag, weight and thrust, manipulating them in order to achieve flight. With airplanes, the force of the lift is achieved through their rigid wings but, when this concept is applied to bee’s mathematically, it would indeed make flight possible. However, once scientists were able to capture flying bees on slow motion video, the explanation behind their abilities of flight became quickly apparent.

The Secret Behind the Wings

The wings of bees are small in comparison to the size of their bodies. They have two sets of wings on each side of their body: the forewing and the hind wing. Both wings are connected with tiny little hooked fibers known as hamuli, which allow them to beat together, creating more lift as they fly.

Unlike the wings of planes, these wings are not rigid, rather, they bend, twist, and rotate in order to sweep up and down in a curved motion. Furthermore, specialized muscles in the bee’s thorax squeeze both up-and-down and back-and-forth, creating the buzzing noise as their wings beat over 230 times per second. These unique properties of their wings along with the complex motion is the secret that provides sufficient lift for bees to take flight.

Citations

Christopher M. Jernigan. “How Do Bees Fly?”. ASU – Ask A Biologist. 24 October, 2017. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/how-do-bees-fly (Accessed: March 30, 2021).

Dodgson, L. (2017) This myth people keep quoting about how bees shouldn’t be able to fly is scientifically incorrect – here’s why, Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/bees-cant-fly-scientifically-incorrect-2017-12 (Accessed: March 30, 2021).