Bees React To Blackout

During the eclipse of 2017, when the sky went dark, the bees seemed to have taken notice. During the event, microphones in flower patches at 11 sites, picked up the buzzing sounds of bees flying, while the plants bloomed.

Those sounds were subsequently absent during the full solar blackout, says a new study. The dimming light and the cooling temperature form the eclipse didn’t bother the bees. However, the complete darkness of the eclipse did.

This information was confirmed by researchers in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America, on Oct. 10. The recordings were heard from citizen scientists and school classes, via small microphones. These places were Oregon, Idaho, and Missouri.

Scientists are still unclear on which bees were doing the buzzing. Co-author and ecologist Candace Galen believes Missouri sites had a lot of bumblebees, while the western sites had tinier, Megachile bees. Missouri witnessed the most activity compared to Idaho and Oregon, with scientists reporting 8 sites.

Galen claims the Megachile might have appreciated the temperature change. In fact, researchers saw many insects act differently drop to ten degrees, during the eclipse. This was the first data published of a bees reaction during the solar eclipse.