# What's the deal with flying bumblebees? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 18, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-flying-bumblebees/317636 "2005-08-18T19:13:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-flying-bumblebees/317636/1 "2005-08-18T19:13:27Z")
Dear Cecil (or Teeming Minions, but I really really wish that one day Cecil would make a lifelong dream come true and answer one of my questions _happy dreamy sigh_) A couple of years back I found one of those sappy motivational quotes somewhere that went “According to the laws of aerodynamics, the bumblebee cannot fly. Guess nobody bothered to tell the bee.” First reaction: Awwww… Second reaction: …wait, what? So tell me–how do bees manage it? ---
**Author:** ![Future\_days](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cab0a1/32.png) [@Future\_days](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_days)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-flying-bumblebees/317636/2 "2005-08-18T19:17:15Z")
It was a puzzle until quite recently, when someone managed to explain it. I’m sure someone will post a link ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-flying-bumblebees/317636/3 "2005-08-18T19:21:34Z")
IIRC, the bee wouldn’t be able to fly if it’s wings were fixed like those of an airplane. Obvioulsy, bees are perfectly capable of flying. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-flying-bumblebees/317636/4 "2005-08-18T19:22:49Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_045.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_045.html) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-flying-bumblebees/317636/5 "2005-08-18T19:26:12Z")
It’s an old urban legend. Scientists never claimed this. [The strange case of the bumble-bee that flew](http://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/~ben/zetie1.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-flying-bumblebees/317636/6 "2005-08-18T19:31:48Z")
> [@Future days](#): > > It was a puzzle until quite recently, when someone managed to explain it. I’m sure someone will post a link No, it hasn’t been a puzzle for decades. I’m not sure it ever was. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-flying-bumblebees/317636/7 "2005-08-18T19:45:43Z")
Ah, thanks, Dopers. 😉 You may return to your regularly scheduled goat-felching and Og-worshipping now… ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-flying-bumblebees/317636/8 "2005-08-18T19:57:28Z")
Yes, we know how a bumblebee flies. But [Man Will Never Fly](http://manwillneverfly.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-flying-bumblebees/317636/9 "2005-08-19T09:47:02Z")
I really like this question, both because it’s interesting in itself, and because it brought me to the Straight Dope. I was googling for an answer to this urban legend and I found Cecil’s column **scr4** linked to.