Article by, Gregory Lemberskiy
There exists a popular saying, “Scientists (physicists) believe that it is aerodynamically impossible for bees to fly”. My high school physics teacher cited it as an example of an unsolved problem in physics. It is often cited as proof that findings in physics are not absolute and should not be used to disprove evolution or the age of the earth. I guess you could say that they are supernatural “beeings”.
Where does this Saying Come From?
The saying originated from German technical institutes in the 1930s. Scientists from many different fields were invited to a dinner party. After a long night of “bier” and “schnitzel”, one biologist asked a physicist/aeronautics engineer about the flight of a bumblebee. At no point in the discussion was Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s piece mentioned. The aeronautics engineer fumbled around with some calculations, but ultimately failed to prove that bees could fly. Everyone at the party laughed it up and began to spread the story around as an in-joke in academic institutions.
The saying originated from German technical institutes in the 1930s. Scientists from many different fields were invited to a dinner party. After a long night of “bier” and “schnitzel”, one biologist asked a physicist/aeronautics engineer about the flight of a bumblebee. At no point in the discussion was Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s piece mentioned. The aeronautics engineer fumbled around with some calculations, but ultimately failed to prove that bees could fly. Everyone at the party laughed it up and began to spread the story around as an in-joke in academic institutions.
Other sources claim that French entomologist August Magnan and his assistant Andre Sainte-Langue were the first to claim that bees cannot fly, in 1934.
Wait, so Can Bees Fly?
Yes. Bees can fly and physicists can make approximations. In the 1930s, aeronautical engineers made planes with fixed wings and an engine or two. Approximating, the flight of bees using a fixed wing model is a brave, but foolish endeavor. In flight, bees utilize “lift” and “thrust” by constantly fluttering their wings. A better way to approximate this motion would be to compare it to the rotor of a helicopter. Unfortunately, the first helicopter was developed in 1936, so it is likely that our German friend did not have the tools needed for an appropriate approximation.
The question is much more complicated than it seems. In fact, vital details of their flight have been popping up in the last decade. One interesting discovery was made by Lijang Zeng of Tsinghua University analyzed bees and other insects through a parameter known as the “body vector”, using a laser system (Lijang Zeng et al 2001 Meas. Sci. Technol. 12 1886). The paper suggests that our German friend neglected the roughness, flexibility, and elasticity of bee wings.
The Bee Wing
Bees flap their wings in a 90 degree arc roughly 230 times a second. This frequency is extraordinarily fast for the bee’s modest size. Fruit flies, roughly 80 times smaller than bees, flap their wings 200 times a second. As creatures capable of flight grow in size, more energy is required to flap their wings. For example, birds flap their wings very slowly. They evolved feathers to overcome this limitation. Bee wings have another strange property. When the bee needs to carry a heavy load, such as pollen, it does not flap its wings faster. It increases its arc of rotation, but the rate at which its wings flutter remains the same. How do we explain this motion? Why are bees so special? The answer to this riddle is a super elastic material known as Resilin found on the tips of their wings. Resilin is made out of proline substituents. Proline is an imino acid, which has a massive 5-membered ring with a carboxylic acid functional group. The series of proline molecules forms this extensive series of U shaped molecules. Coupled together, these proline molecules can act as a “molecular spring”. This adaptation allows bees to flap/oscillate their wings at sufficient frequencies to overcome these classical barriers.
Bees flap their wings in a 90 degree arc roughly 230 times a second. This frequency is extraordinarily fast for the bee’s modest size. Fruit flies, roughly 80 times smaller than bees, flap their wings 200 times a second. As creatures capable of flight grow in size, more energy is required to flap their wings. For example, birds flap their wings very slowly. They evolved feathers to overcome this limitation. Bee wings have another strange property. When the bee needs to carry a heavy load, such as pollen, it does not flap its wings faster. It increases its arc of rotation, but the rate at which its wings flutter remains the same. How do we explain this motion? Why are bees so special? The answer to this riddle is a super elastic material known as Resilin found on the tips of their wings. Resilin is made out of proline substituents. Proline is an imino acid, which has a massive 5-membered ring with a carboxylic acid functional group. The series of proline molecules forms this extensive series of U shaped molecules. Coupled together, these proline molecules can act as a “molecular spring”. This adaptation allows bees to flap/oscillate their wings at sufficient frequencies to overcome these classical barriers.
Resilin also explains why fleas can jump so damn high. The material literally compresses, storing energy, and then releases energy to accomplish inexplicably leaps with accelerations reaching 140G.
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