Bees can survive underwater for a week.
Bees are able to survive underwater
An error from scientists at Canada's University of Guelph during a study unintentionally submerged hibernating queen common eastern bumblebees in water but the researchers were startled to find out that many had survived for several days.
A follow-up experiment was conducted to investigate further into the unexpected findings and the academics have speculated that a bee's ability to survive underwater could be a perk of how they breathe.
Dr. Sabrina Rondeau, the study author, told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: "Hibernating bumblebee queens have very low metabolism, which means they also have low oxygen requirements.
"They do not need a lot of oxygen at all to survive. As such, they may be able to rely on the air left in their trachea (similar to lungs in humans)."
She added: "It's encouraging to know that if flooding events are increasing in the future (as they are predicted to do with climate change), this might not have too much of an effect on bumblebee queen populations."