Ask A Scientist© Biology Archive

Author:      underdog
Text:        Can you explain "how" it is that a bee is capable of flying?

Response #:  1 of 1
Author:      ProfBill
Text:        This is just an old engineering myth.  There really is not a 
problem understanding how bees fly.  The muscles that move the wings down are 
powerful enough to generated enough force to lift the weight of the bee.  On 
the downstroke, the wings are "feathered", that is turned vertically so that 
moving up they do not generated a force down to undo all the work of lifting 
the bee in the first place.  Much like a rower turns the oar parallel to the 
water on the return stroke, but perpendicular to the water to generate force 
on the power stroke.  It all adds up just fine.  The real unanswered question 
is how the bee's nervous system coordinates all this, especially the bit about 
compensating for wind, turning, etc.