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Bumblebee queens can survive underwater for at least a week, according to new research.<\/p>\n
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This remarkable feat occurs over winter, when the insects are buried underground and have entered a hibernation-like state known as diapause.<\/p>\n
During this six to nine-month period, the queens are vulnerable to waterlogged conditions as rain and melting snow flood their shallow burrows. <\/p>\n
Scientists have discovered that queen bees manage to stay alive until spring by breathing underwater, the only members of the colony to do so. <\/p>\n
Queen bees can survive underwater<\/p>\n
The finding comes from a new study published<\/a> in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.<\/p>\n The investigation was sparked by an earlier chance finding by researcher Sabrina Rondeau, a co-author of the new study. <\/p>\n During an experiment looking at how pesticides affect bumblebees, she placed diapausing queens in soil-filled tubes in a refrigerator. <\/p>\n One day, she found that water<\/a> from condensation had filled some of the tubes, leaving four queens completely submerged. To her surprise, the bees<\/a> were still alive. <\/p>\n Rondeau then confirmed her discovery in a 2024 study which showed that queen bumblebees can survive underwater for a week. <\/p>\n Why queen bees don\u2019t drown in flooded ground<\/p>\n The new study wanted to dig into how the queen bees had this unusual ability.<\/p>\n To investigate, the team induced healthy queens into diapause by placing them in a cold, dark refrigerator that recreated winter conditions. <\/p>\n After several weeks, they then submerged the insects in chambers flooded<\/a> with water.<\/p>\n Some bees were kept underwater for a few hours, while others stayed for up to eight days.<\/p>\n Throughout the experiment, the researchers measured their metabolic rate and recorded physiological changes.<\/p>\n They found that the submerged queens continued to produce carbon dioxide at a low, but detectable, rate, showing they were breathing underwater.<\/p>\n The metabolic rate remained steady whether the bees<\/a> were submerged for a few hours or the full eight days.<\/p>\n Ability to endure flood-prone conditions \u2018may be critically important\u2019<\/p>\n