The buzz on weather: How honeybees stay in tune with thunderstorms
Want to know if there's a storm coming? Ask a honeybee and look for the smell of bananas!
If you pay close attention, it's easy to see how in tune our premiere pollinator is with the weather.
Nocturnal thunderstorms were roaring all morning leading up to The Weather Network's visit to Backed by Bees. The honeybees knew that with all the rain, the flowers would be closed, pollen would be limited, and it was better to relax and stay close to the hive. Bees are very in tune with thunderstorms that way.
"When they feel that big change in air pressure, all the bees that are out foraging are going to stop that immediately and they are going to try to come back home so they can be in shelter when the storm hits," Dave Stotesbury, Head Beekeeper at Backed by Bees, told The Weather Network.
SEE ALSO: Want to help native bees this summer? Build them a hotel!
Leading up to a storm and during the thunder, a bee may become more aggressive.
"During a thunderstorm, the bees will hang out [at the hive's entrance] and kind of keep guard. If there is a big boom of thunder what is pretty amazing to see is these bees will shudder; it kind of freaks them out. And then they go very very quiet."
Smell bananas? Time to get indoors
A large thunderstorm can feel threatening to a beehive, and as a reaction the bees can actually change the smell of their colony.
"They will produce a smell; it's their alarm pheromone, and it's indistinguishable from bananas," Stotesbury said. "So most beekeepers, if we are out in the bee yard, we see the bees coming back and all of a sudden get that whiff of banana smell, it's get in the truck and get on out of there!"
Once the thundering threat has passed, though, they will all become calm and patiently wait for the flowers to open again.
Copyedited by Anika Beaudry, a digital journalist at The Weather Network.
Thumbnail image created using file photos from Canva.