For years Aeronautical Engineers said, "Theoretically" and he Bumble Bee shouldn't be able to fly. "Too much body weight, all of the fuzz is bad aerodynamics only one pair of wings are too small to support sustained flight." However, Bumble Bees ignore the 'theoretical' and easily take care of business. Engineers are still studying those wings.
Researchers recently compared body weight-carried and found Bumble Bees can carry more than any other species of Bees. By weighing them leaving the nest early in the day and then again upon return fully loaded with nectar and pollen, researchers found they easily carry and additional 80% of their own body-weight without difficulty. (Honey bees by comparison only carry about 10%.)
Next they tested bee energy-expended per load-carried, and astonished researchers discovered the heavier the load the easier a Bumble Bee can fly. This is contrary to all common-sense physics. From this, we can surmise when a Bumble Bee sees the famous honeybees who receive all the media attention, they probably just shrug and think, "No wonder it takes so dang many of the them, they're all Wimps."
Researchers also learned that Bumble Bees prefer a low-fat diet thereby staying in good shape for hard daily work carrying those unexpectedly heavy loads.
Bumble Bees Use a positive-charged micro-electrostatic patch of fuzz on their head that tells them before landing if a flower has abundant pollen or nectar. They sense within six inches of a flower whether to give a "fly-by" saving time and effort to look and land on only productive flowers.
With Global warming Bumble Bees are becoming an endangered species by not being able move yearly from local to another fast enough. However with this new knowledge, it's safe to say from now on, when we see one we'll think, "That Bumble Bee really knows its stuff."
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