Honeybees are some of the most intriguing members of the insect world. Among their many talents is the ability to act as organic heaters and air conditioners. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by DuPont.
“We can look at a colony of bees as an organism which consists of many, many individuals that keep its temperature at about 96 degrees Fahrenheit.”
Gilbert Waldbauer is a professor emeritus of entomology at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. He says that bees can maintain the temperature they need, even in extreme conditions.
“An experiment has been done, in which a hive was put in a place where the air temperature got up to 155 degrees Fahrenheit. Now that’s very hot and it would lethal to the honeybees. But the honeybees managed to air condition the hive and keep it down to 96 degrees Fahrenheit.”
Honeybees can fan their wings to cool the hive. They can also bring water into the hive, by swallowing and regurgitating it. Then they fan the water to provide even more air conditioning. If the hive gets too cold, they can take care of that problem, too.
“Thousands of workers mass around the queen in a great big ball. The outside layers of workers are very, very close to each other so that they form sort of an insulating layer that prevents the movement of heat from inside the ball. Now it’s possible for the bees inside the ball to move about. They go down to the comb, they eat some honey and then they metabolize the honey and create heat by by shivering their wing muscles without moving the wings.”
Pulse of the Planet is presented by DuPont, bringing you the miracles of science, with additional support provided by the National Science Foundation.