Talk:Bumblebee

35C seems way to high

I am not able to access the source that this claim is attached to but 35C or 95F seems like a very high temperature for bees to be able to keep their nests at in a polar climate. Can anyone verify this? Always beleive in hope (talk) 22:17, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

There is no such claim in this article. Perhaps you were reading somewhere else. If this is a general query, note WP:NOTFORUM. Chiswick Chap (talk) 11:31, 20 February 2026 (UTC)

I do not know where user:Always...hope got 35° C. From the article: The temperature of the flight muscles, which occupy much of the thorax, needs to be at least 30 °C (86 °F) before flight can take place.

That seems an entirely reasonable temperature for active muscles. Even better, a range of 30° to 44° C is sourced in the same paragraph. Bees are able to raise their thoracic body temperature without moving the wings. Honeybees are known to use that ability to kill intruders such as wasps or hornets by surrounding them with a "ball" of bees and overheating them. Just plain Bill (talk) 14:53, 20 February 2026 (UTC)

"breathing underwater"

Just to note that the short lived comment claiming that queens breathe underwater was based on a New York Times article which did have a link to the paper published by the researchers: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/293/2066/20253141/480715/Diapausing-bumble-bee-queens-avoid-drowning-by it makes it clear that the bees survive (in diapause) rather than "breathe" due to a combination of anaerobic respiration, gaseous exchange via the tracheae & possibly an air layer around the body. Mattymmoo (talk) 11:23, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Well if we put it in the right part of the article, explain the biology clearly and concisely, and cite the actual science then it'll be welcome. Chiswick Chap (talk) 11:39, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Citation #2 is insufficient/inaccurate

Under Etymology, the source cited for the sentence “The English name bumblebee combines bumble, meaning to buzz or hum, with bee, both words imitative of the insect's sound” does not actually say that. I recommend instead citing the Oxford English Dictionary’s etymology entry for Bumblebee https://www.oed.com/dictionary/bumblebee_n?tab=etymology and possibly the OED etymology entry for Bumble (Verb 1) https://www.oed.com/dictionary/bumble_v1?tab=etymology#12252664.

I cannot make the edit as my account is not yet autoconfirmed. InsightCalico (talk) 04:30, 12 July 2026 (UTC)

Fixed. Chiswick Chap (talk) 05:48, 12 July 2026 (UTC)