Sometimes, the most exciting scientific discoveries don’t come from carefully planned experiments, they come from accidents.

A scientist was storing hibernating bumblebee queens in a refrigerator. These bees were in a deep resting state called diapause which is basically a kind of suspended animation that helps them survive winter.

Condensation from the fridge dripped into the containers, leaving the bees submerged in water, by the time they were found, it was assumed they had drowned, but they hadn’t which led to the question, can bees can survive underwater? The results were published in the journal Royal Society Proceedings B.

Bumblebees don’t have lungs, and like most insects they breathe through tiny openings in their bodies connected to tubes that deliver oxygen directly to their tissues. If those openings are blocked, for example with water, you would expect the bee to run out of oxygen pretty quickly.

To figure out how they survived, the researchers placed hibernating queen bees in water and carefully measured how much carbon dioxide (CO₂) they produced.

They found that the bees reduced their metabolism by more than half, producing 75 percent less CO₂ almost immediately and their metabolism continued to slow over time .

But that wasn’t the whole story. The researchers also found signs that the bees were partially switching to anaerobic metabolism which is a way of producing energy without oxygen (similar to what happens in your muscles during intense exercise). This process isn’t ideal long-term but it can keep organisms alive in tough conditions.

And there was one more clever trick.

Scientists believe the bees may be using something called a “physical gill.” This is a thin layer of air that clings to the bee’s body underwater, allowing oxygen to diffuse in and carbon dioxide to diffuse out. It’s a bit like carrying your own tiny oxygen bubble.

When removed from the water, the bees slowly woke up over several days and carried on as normal.

This discovery could have real implications as bumblebee queens often hibernate underground, sometimes in areas that flood.  

This ability to survive underwater could be a crucial survival strategy and reminds us that insects are far more resilient than we give them credit for. 

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