Bees Surviving Underwater? It’s More Likely Than We Think
A laboratory mishap led to a surprising discovery: hibernating common eastern bumblebee queens can survive underwater for as long as a week, with exciting implications for species’ survival in a changing climate.
Photo Credit: Raritan Headwaters Association.
After an “experimental oversight” caused water to fill a container of hibernating bumblebee queens, researchers Sabrina Rondeau and Nigel Raine were surprised to find that the queens were still alive after draining the water (2). Rondeau and Raine then designed an experiment to further test the survival of hibernating (diapausing) queens under water.
First, the common eastern bumblebee queens were placed in cold storage for a week when they reached the age of 9-15 days in order to induce diapause (2).
Afterwards, they were divided into three categories: control, floating, and submerged. The control bees were put back into cold storage for the duration of the experiment, but cool water was added to the tubes of both the floating and submerged bees; however, the “submerged” bees were placed in tubes with plungers that kept them underwater, while “floating” bees were allowed to float naturally (2).
Photo Credit: Rondeau, S. & Raine, N. E. (2024). Unveiling the submerged secrets: bumblebee queens’ resilience to flooding. Biology Letters, 20:20230609. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0609#d2201336e1.
Overall, 81-88% of queens survived, and there was no statistical difference between categories of treatments (2)! This is hugely significant because, as climate change increases likelihood of flooding severity and frequency, ground-nesting insects may be vulnerable to death or habitat loss due to flooding. This experiment shows that, at least for common eastern bumblebee queens, flooding may not affect the survival of queens significantly (2). However, it should be noted that the researchers still would like to test other species of bees to see if results are consistent, and bee populations may still be affected if larva mortality occurs due to flooding (1).
Ultimately, the findings of this experiment lay the groundwork for better understanding how ground-nesting insects may be affected by climate change!
(1) Davis, N. (2024). Bumblebee species able to survive underwater for up to a week. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/17/bumblebee-species-common-eastern-survive-underwater-hibernating.
(2) Rondeau, S. & Raine, N. E. (2024). Unveiling the submerged secrets: bumblebee queens’ resilience to flooding. Biology Letters, 20:20230609. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0609#d2201336e1.
