A recent study has revealed that queen bees can survive underwater for up to a week.
The discovery was made accidentally by ecologist Sabrina Rondo when she found four queen bees in a frozen container inside a refrigerator. To her surprise, all four queens were still alive.
The bees were in a state known as diapause, similar to hibernation in winter. Normally, when ice melts and heavy rains flood the land, it is assumed that bees drown. However, scientists now believe that these bees can survive submerged in flooded areas for up to a week.
Professor Charles Anthony Darrow from the University of Ottawa, who co-authored the study with Sabrina Rondo, said that the research began after a discussion with his colleague.
He added that their findings indicate that queen bees are capable of spending more than a week underwater, challenging previous assumptions about their survival in flooded conditions.
