Bees can fly higher than Mount Everest  

Can you imagine seeing a bumblebee cruising by your aeroplane window on your next flight? Yes, they may pay you a visit while you are flying high in the sky since a new study suggests that they might be capable of such high-altitude jaunts. Scientists have tested that alpine  bumblebees (bumblebees which live at high mountain elevations) could hover at heights exceeding that of Mount Everest at above 9000 metres.  

So how do bees manage high-altitude flying?  
To understand this, the team used a video camera which would tell them how the bumblebee’s wings beat at such heights with thinner air and lower oxygen levels.  

They thought that bees would either need to beat their wings faster to keep their bodies afloat to adjust to this kind of change. But again, they were taken by a surprise.  

Instead of beating the wings faster, the bees increased the angle at which they extended their wings with each beat, reaching closer to their heads and abdomens each time. This action increased the amount of air that they swooped, helping to boost their bodies up. How clever of them, isn't it?  

Infact, scientists also found out that some bumblebees have already been living above 4,000 metres for long periods when they discovered a bumblebee nest at 4,400 metres in the Hengduan Mountains in China. 

But if bumblebees can fly that high why don’t we see them very often at higher elevations? There is a reason for that! While they may not be limited by their ability to fly when looking for places to settle their colonies, other factors such as the availability of food (flower nectar that they feed on) may be an important consideration.  

The experiment  
So, you would ask how are the scientists so sure. Well, they conducted some studies. A team of scientists travelled to a mountain range in western China and collected six male bumblebees of the species ‘Bombus impetuosus’ at about 3,250 metres. The species is considered alpine because it lives at alpine  or high mountain elevations, but it doesn't differ very much from similar species that live closer to sea level.  

The researchers placed the bees in clear, sealed boxes. They experimentally adjusted the oxygen levels and air density to simulate increasing elevation. 

They concluded that all of the bees were capable of flying in conditions equivalent to 4,000 metres, and some even made it past 9,000 metres — the height of the peak of Mount Everest. Now won't you say it is almost a miracle for a tiny fragile bee to reach those heights and survive by itself?  

Mystery remains 
While it has been established that bumblebees have the ability to fly that high scientists are still trying to figure out how they manage to do it and how comfortable they are.  

To put the feat into context, these bees with such tiny wings are able to adjust themselves to climatic challenges which even most human bodies cannot. With far less oxygen to breathe at 9,000 metres, air pressure is about a third of that at sea level so it is harder to fly, with less air for wings to beat against; it's also harder to breathe. Bravo!