The buzz of bees may seem like a familiar background sound in nature, but it carries vital importance for ecosystems. This buzzing is not merely a means of communication or defense; it is a fundamental component of the pollination process—particularly what is known as buzz pollination, a technique bees use to extract pollen from certain flowers that cannot be pollinated otherwise, such as tomatoes, eggplants, and blueberries.
However, with increasing environmental pressures, bees are facing a range of threats that affect their ability to buzz effectively. The most notable of these threats are pesticides, noise pollution, and climate change.
A recent study has shown that environmental changes—such as rising temperatures and exposure to pollutants like heavy metals—not only impact the bees’ overall health but also affect their sound.
These factors were found to reduce the frequency and pitch of the vibrations produced by bees’ wings when they are not flying. These vibrations are essential for activities such as acoustic pollination or communication within the hive. This disruption in the bees’ “buzz” may weaken their ability to perform their crucial role as pollinators and impair the quality of communication among colony members, ultimately threatening the effectiveness of the ecosystems that depend on them.
How Bees Operate
الأكثر قراءة
In this context, Dr. Charlie Woodrow, a postdoctoral researcher at Uppsala University, explains:
"Scientists have long been fascinated by the functioning of insect flight muscles, as they represent one of the most efficient locomotion systems in nature. What many people do not realize, however, is that bees do not use these muscles solely for flying; they also rely on them for other essential activities, such as producing the sonic vibrations required for pollination or for communication within the hive.
In other words, a bee’s flight muscles act as a precise tool for generating sounds that serve multiple functions—not just lifting the insect into the air. Therefore, any damage inflicted on these muscles, whether due to heat or pollution, can have a compounded impact on bee behavior and its ecological performance."
Dr. Woodrow further explains:
"Buzz pollination is an astonishing behavior. The bee wraps its body around the stamen that holds the hidden pollen in certain flowers, and its flight muscles contract up to 400 times per second to generate vibrations that release the pollen."
He continues:
"We want to understand how variations in these vibrations affect the release of pollen, in order to better understand plant reproduction and pollinator behavior."
He adds:
"This inspired us to investigate how non-flight buzzing differs within and across species, and what factors influence it."
Clinical Experiments
Dr. Woodrow conducted his experiments using colonies of buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris), a common and well-studied European species.
Using accelerometers, Dr. Woodrow and his team were able to measure the frequency of the bees’ buzzing, which corresponds to the audible pitch of the sound.
The team also combined accelerometer readings with thermal imaging, allowing them to observe how bees manage the excess heat generated during buzzing.
Dr. Woodrow explains:
"We used high-speed imaging to uncover behaviors never seen before. For example, we recently discovered that bees do not simply vibrate on flowers; they periodically transmit these vibrations to them by biting."
