Just a link and an interesting article to share with you all-

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/bees010129.html


But when it comes to the bees, scientists still aren't sure how. The insects
seem to defy all classical laws of aerodynamics.
Now, using technology that has helped keep Boeing planes and NASA spacecraft
soaring, researchers at the University of Washington hope to solve the
mystery.
"If you look at conventional aerodynamics, like an airplane, [the bees]
shouldn't be able to fly," said Christina McGraw, the chemistry graduate
student performing the experiments.
Making Bee Maps
The research uses a unique paint that glows under ultraviolet light at
varying intensity according to air pressure. It will provide the first
quantitative answers to how honey bees keep aloft, say the researchers, who
come from zoology, chemistry and physics backgrounds.
They plan to map the lift pressure across the bee wing during flight. That
would show where the force comes from to get the bees out of the hive.
It could also help in the creation of miniature flying robots called
"micro-air vehicles."
Previous research has shown that a bee's wings bend and slice through the
air, carving figure 8s at a rate of 200 beats a second. The elaborate,
curving strokes create vortexes and currents that allow maneuvering and
hovering flight.
But much of that research has been based on models or computer simulations.
Scientists are excited about the possibility of having hard data to analyze.
"The predictions are great, but without experimental data, they're just
predictions," said Tom Daniel, a zoology professor involved in the
experiment.
Bees in the Fridge
Another researcher, physicist John Wettlaufer, will share McGraw's data with
researchers at the Courant Institute of Applied Mathematics at New York
University to see how theories about insect flight hold up.
For the experiment, McGraw knocks the bees out by sticking them in a
refrigerator. She places a drop of fast-drying, bright red paint on each
wing, and the next step is to use a digital camera to capture changes in
lift pressure on the wings. The camera is still being built by a commercial
company.
One problem the scientists ran into was finding a mixture of
pressure-sensitive paint that would work. Until now, the paint — developed
by UW chemistry professors Martin Gouterman, Gamal Khalil and James Callis
to study lift on airplanes and spacecraft — had only been used to study
pressure on inanimate objects.
Dozens of formulas were tested to find a mix that would let the bees keep
flying. Appropriately, the successful mix combines luminescent compounds
with beeswax.

Richard Meryhew
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