Hibernating bumblebee queens have a superpower: Surviving for days underwater
Being submerged for a week didn’t put a damper on survival, suggesting a resilience to floods
![A black and yellow common Eastern bumblebee queen is perched upside down on a pink apple blossom.](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/041624_di_queenbee-underwater_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1)
Common eastern bumblebee queens (Bombus impatiens), like the one seen here visiting an apple flower, are remarkably resilient to flooding when hibernating in their underground chamber, new experiments show.
Nigel Raine