The Humble Bumble Bee………?
Is it true that bumble bees defy the laws of flying? Apparently something to do with the body weight to wing ratio, bumble bees are not supposed to be able to fly according to the theory of flying… I have heard this from many folk now and not sure what to make of it.
Is this a rumour based on someones joke or truth?
No, if they defy anything it’s that their flight mechanism can’t be mathematically modeled in a simple way. It is not know how the myth came about exactly, but it is likely that an aerodynamicist/physicist was asked to explain how bumblebees fly and he obligingly did a brief analysis of the wing, making several simplifications as he did so. The result was that the wings could not support the bee in flight, but all this really showed was that his mathematical model of the wings was far too simplified.
The story is often used these days to sneer at engineers/scientists and prove that they are not always right as it is obvious to everyone that bumblebees can fly!
It’s an urban myth. Their flying abilities are quite well understood.
This is the saying:
A bumble bees wings are too short to carry it’s weight, but the bumble-bee doesn’t know this so he carries on flying anyway.
A bit like cartoon characters who fall out of the sky as soon as they realise there is no ground underneath.
Actually, it is impossible to break the laws of physics, so there is nothing wrong with bumble-bee wings. This is an urban myth of uncertain origin, but the idea that their wings are too short appears to originate from engineers working on fixed wing aircraft. As a bumble-bees wings are not fixed but swivel, this could account for the error.
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No, it isn’t true.
yea, hibbe’s right, it’s just a rumor. the bee is a very to-the-book flyer, they’re wings are pretty large and given how fast they flap the only way to go is up…
but maybe they were thinking of a different type of thrust? if the bee had a little propeller and its wings were fixed it wouldn’t be able to fly because its wings would be too flimsy and wouldn’t generate enough lift to even take off… the bee runway i guess?
“tiny wings? need to fly? flap them, fast”
Considering aerodynamic principles I think there is basis for
this subject of conversation. I learned of this when I was taking up aeronautical engineering (which I did not finish anyway). Somehow the bee is supposed to be a dynamic
creature. Like man, it also is affected by some psychological
principles so that as my reading says, “the bee simply ignored the aerodynamic law promulgated by man and went ahead and fly anyway”.The world is more than we know, isn’t it?.
The body looks big, but is not that weighty.
The wings go at an increadible speed.
And well the fuel is honey.