bumblebee spend an norm of 7.5 hours a day collecting and delight nectar and pollen from flower patch back to their hives . They might make up to 15 round trips a day . But when flying with a load , there ’s a trade - off between stability and maneuverability , and bumblebees seem to choose the gunpowder or the succus depending on how breezy it is . The determination were published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesthis week .
bear substantial loads during flight is critical for the survival and reproduction for many dirt ball , though few field have looked at the impacts of loading on flight performance . For example , Bombus impatiensbumblebees can have a bun in the oven loading of half the weight of their small bodies . The bees stash away nectar in a special sack in their abdomen near their inwardness of peck , and pollen is carry on their hind legs , far from their center of mass . “ bumblebee are basically airy tankers,”Harvard ’s Andrew MountcastletellsNPR .
To examine how load place affects their flight performance dynamics under various wind weather condition , Mountcastle and colleagues tried to model ambrosia and pollen lading with 11.5 - milligram brand ball bearing that are 1.4 millimeters in diameter . They attached two balls to the bees ’ venter , near what ’s call their nectar crop , or one globe to each of their hind legs at their pollen basket ( picture above ) . The squad then placed the bee with their simulated stacks in a wind burrow and presented them with an stilted flower under three conditions : a stationary flower in unsteady airflow , a moving heyday in unshakable airflow , and a moving flower in unsteady airflow . They recorded these escape visitation using multiple high - speed cameras to reconstruct 3D flight trajectory and changes in body altitudes . you could look on some of these videoshere .
bee with pollen on their legs see increase trajectory stability , they get hold , but at the expense of maneuverability . While the pollen on their legs might have helped to steady the trajectory , these bee were less agile than nectar - laden bees when there was n’t much wind .
These finding indicate that wind conditions likely mold what resources these helpful insects choose to assemble . It seems like they may prefer pollen on breezy days , and this has important consequences for pollination moral force as well as dependency fitness .
