# How bees fly when it's under 50 degrees



## Art_Vandelay (Jan 6, 2018)

I've been a little obsessed with this for the last couple months, and today I finally made a visual aid I'm planning to take to a festival in May.

https://www.mitecalculator.com/bee-yard-blog/2018/3/24/how-bees-fly-in-cold-weather


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## siberian (Aug 23, 2011)

Art_Vandelay said:


> I've been a little obsessed with this for the last couple months, and today I finally made a visual aid I'm planning to take to a festival in May.
> 
> https://www.mitecalculator.com/bee-yard-blog/2018/3/24/how-bees-fly-in-cold-weather




Can I ask where this comes from and how the data is collected? Did you do this from your hives? (not a bad thing, just wondering).


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## Art_Vandelay (Jan 6, 2018)

siberian said:


> Can I ask where this comes from and how the data is collected? Did you do this from your hives? (not a bad thing, just wondering).


The cold weather flight info came from two different sources...both of them are at the bottom of the graphic. Let me know if it's too small to read and I'll copy and paste them here.


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## siberian (Aug 23, 2011)

Maybe I need to think this one out, Have to say that I like your blog and appreciate your honesty. Seems like good orbad, you tell it like it is.


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## Art_Vandelay (Jan 6, 2018)

siberian said:


> Maybe I need to think this one out


Basically there are just a few key numbers in that graphic. First, a bee's thorax must be 77 degrees or warmer for her to generate enough wing flaps to fly. Second, the bee can only keep her thorax 27 degrees above the surrounding air temperature when she's flying. Third, when a bee is foraging on a cold day, she can raise her thorax temperature to 95+ degrees as long as she's stationary.

There are a couple other figures in there, but those are the critical ones that explain the reason 50 degrees is the lower limit to heavy flying, and also why they can fly when it's under 50 degrees as long as they don't stray too far from the hive.


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