Why are bees dropping 'bean cakes' while flying?

Photo: LiveScience

Unlike jets that have wheels rolling up while flying, some bees drop them when they are humming.

The orchid bees swung their hind legs forward to achieve maximum speed, a new study has found. Legs also create lift, keep bees balanced and keep them from rolling.

" The hind legs have the same function as an airplane wing, which can explain why they also produce lift, " said Stacey Combes of Berkeley University, California.

Only earlier this year did other researchers explain how bees fly. To test their flight mechanism in more detail, Combes and his colleagues experimented with bees flying in a tunnel blowing the wind outdoors, by lureing them with aromatherapy.

They found that when speed increased, bees spread their hind legs to maintain a balanced position. But at the highest speed, even those who spread their legs to their full size reached their limit and lost their balance. This situation is caused by the force of force on their feet.

" They roll when they move to the side and often turn up and down, and crash into the ground ," Combes said.

The researchers determined that the bee's speed was limited not by mechanical force or the ability to flap the wings, but by the ability to balance the body in unstable conditions.

" Swinging feet help them balance their bodies, similar to when an ice skater has to extend his arms while spinning ," Combes explained.

Understanding the bee's flight mechanism can help engineers design small planes for research and rescue or reconnaissance.

T. An