How fast do bees fly?
Summary
Our forum users have shared varying perspectives on how fast bees can fly. Some users mention that a bee's speed depends on whether they are loaded or unloaded, while others point out the influence of wind. One user mentioned that bees seem to fly faster leaving the hive than when they are returning. Ultimately, it appears that several factors can affect a bee's flight speed.
Our forum users are saying:
- "I read that 25 mph figure I think in "The Hive and the Honey Bee". That's probably top speed unless they have a tail wind :) They likely average somewhat less. They fly faster leaving the hive than they do coming in loaded I've noticed." -- George Fergusson, Beesource.com
- "The 25 mph figure, I think, is actually 25 km/hr. Mark Winston writes: āthe average flight speed of a worker bee is about 24 km/hr.ā āworkers with full nectar loads fly at about 6.5 m/sec, wheras unloaded workers may fly at 7.5 m/sec.ā The numbers mentioned in āThe Hive and the Honey Beeā are 20.9 to 25.7 km/hr with an average of 24 km/hr." -- Dick Allen, Beesource.com
- "Man, I can hardly keep them in sight as they zoom off, which made me wonder if anyone has ever been bored enough to actually clock a bee's speed. I found a website that claimed they fly ~15 mph."
Post Mentions
- So maybe they're sight seeing? They're going to fly slower when loaded down with nectar and/or pollen and you can easily see the difference in speed between departing foragers and returning ones. There may be other explanations for why their return trip takes less time, if this is in fact the...
- I read that 25 mph figure I think in "The Hive and the Honey Bee". That's probably top speed unless they have a tail wind :) They likely average somewhat less. They fly faster leaving the hive than they do coming in loaded I've noticed.
- Interesting, that has always been my observation too. That they leave teh hive like shotgun blast sometimes, but they always make a slow and deliberate approach. The funny thing is that i read an article (I think here on beesource) about tracking bees and the auther had done some timing tests...
- The 25 mph figure, I think, is actually 25 km/hr. Mark Winston writes: āthe average flight speed of a worker bee is about 24 km/hr.ā āworkers with full nectar loads fly at about 6.5 m/sec, wheras unloaded workers may fly at 7.5 m/sec.ā The numbers mentioned in āThe Hive and the Honey Beeā...
- Man, I can hardly keep them in sight as they zoom off, which made me wonder if anyone has ever been bored enough to actually clock a bee's speed. I found a website that claimed they fly ~15 mph. If you scale that up by size, the equivalent human speed would be incredible.:eek:
- Do you loose a larger percent of foragers at high wind speed? So if the flying speed of the bees is between 13 - 25mph, what happens when you have a really strong wind above 25mph? Do you loose a higher percent of foragers or have the bees learned how to forage without being blown away?
- Check out this honeybee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_ZT1S078Ok&feature=related
- The bees always seem to know when to stay close to home and when to fly further afield. Whether it's raining lightly or not at all. Sometimes it's raining lightly all day and they are working. Sometimes it's not raining at all and they aren't flying and then a storm hits. They seem pretty...
- On a sunny day when the sun hits the entrance some bees think it's warm enough and take off, but then chilling fast mid air and drop. You can help by shading the entrance. Konrad
- It is natural for the old and diseased bees to fly out in less than ideal conditions and die. In a bee yard and one hive flys when conditions seem odd, sometimes they are light of honey and act restless. If you only have one hive you have nothing to compare against. some loss is just normal.
Related Threads
- Do they send a few sacrificial scouts out every morning to check the conditions? I also found bees on the snow where I fed a few days ago when it was 70.
- I have a question.... when it decides to rain (like it did all this week and today), what is the activity like by the entrance of the hive? Right now, it is raining and bees are flying around the entrance. That amazes me.
- Man, I can hardly keep them in sight as they zoom off, which made me wonder if anyone has ever been bored enough to actually clock a bee's speed. I found a website that claimed they fly ~15 mph. If you scale that up by size, the equivalent human speed would be incredible.:eek: