At least one species of bumblebee can survive underwater, scientists have discovered after an accident led to an experiment.
A study carried out by researchers from Canada found that while hibernating, queens of eastern common bumblebees can survive being submerged in water for a week without apparent problems.
The research began after Dr. Sabrina Rondeau, of the University of Guelph in Ontario, made a mistake in a previous experiment.
After storing a shipment of 300 hibernating Eastern common bumblebee queens in a refrigerator, she later discovered that condensation had filled four containers housing the insects.
“I was sure the queens were dead,” Dr Rondeau told the Globe and Mail, a Canadian media outlet.
“I took the water out and – surprise, surprise – they were still alive.”
In the follow-up study, Dr Rondeau and his colleague Professor Nigel Raine took 143 queens and housed them in individual plastic tubes containing moist topsoil, before placing them in a dark refrigerated unit to cause hibernation.
After finding that the bees were still alive, the researchers kept 17 queens as controls and added cold water to the remaining 126 tubes.
Of these, 63 queens floated on the surface of the water and the other 63 were pushed underwater by a piston.
The two groups were then divided into thirds, with one group gone for eight hours, another for 24 hours and another for seven days.
The team found that 81% of queens submerged for seven days were still alive after eight weeks of artificial hibernation, compared to 88% of the control group.
The researchers found that queen survival remained consistently high in all experimental groups up to eight weeks after treatment.
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However, the team added in the peer-reviewed journal Biology Letters that queens with higher weights had a greater chance of survival.
Dr. Rondeau told the Globe and Mail: “A third of all bumblebee species in the world are currently in decline, and so if we are able to rule out flooding as a potential threat to bees, then we can focus our attention on other threats that we are sure will harm them. »
At least one species of bumblebee can survive underwater, scientists have discovered after an accident led to an experiment.
A study carried out by researchers from Canada found that while hibernating, queens of eastern common bumblebees can survive being submerged in water for a week without apparent problems.
The research began after Dr. Sabrina Rondeau, of the University of Guelph in Ontario, made a mistake in a previous experiment.
After storing a shipment of 300 hibernating Eastern common bumblebee queens in a refrigerator, she later discovered that condensation had filled four containers housing the insects.
“I was sure the queens were dead,” Dr Rondeau told the Globe and Mail, a Canadian media outlet.
“I took the water out and – surprise, surprise – they were still alive.”
In the follow-up study, Dr Rondeau and his colleague Professor Nigel Raine took 143 queens and housed them in individual plastic tubes containing moist topsoil, before placing them in a dark refrigerated unit to cause hibernation.
After finding that the bees were still alive, the researchers kept 17 queens as controls and added cold water to the remaining 126 tubes.
Of these, 63 queens floated on the surface of the water and the other 63 were pushed underwater by a piston.
The two groups were then divided into thirds, with one group gone for eight hours, another for 24 hours and another for seven days.
The team found that 81% of queens submerged for seven days were still alive after eight weeks of artificial hibernation, compared to 88% of the control group.
The researchers found that queen survival remained consistently high in all experimental groups up to eight weeks after treatment.
Read more on Sky News
A ‘wide-eyed’ sea worm can see differently
Pandas’ diet could sabotage their sex lives
However, the team added in the peer-reviewed journal Biology Letters that queens with higher weights had a greater chance of survival.
Dr. Rondeau told the Globe and Mail: “A third of all bumblebee species in the world are currently in decline, and so if we are able to rule out flooding as a potential threat to bees, then we can focus our attention on other threats that we are sure will harm them. »