# Can bees "fly" a plane?



## DaveD (2 Dec 2008)

Was watching the "Bee Movie" last night with my children and at one stage a plane is supported by bees and "flown" to the airport to land. Millions of them hold the underside of the plane, the engines are cut and they fly it in to land. 

Now, before writing to Dreamworks about any inaccuracies that their may have been, would anyone know how much a bee can lift and how many would be needed to lift an average passenger jet? I cannot identify the type of jet but it wasn't a Boeing 747.

I realise that not all people may attach the same level of importance to this question!


----------



## truthseeker (2 Dec 2008)

I suppose it depends on how much weight an individual bee can carry (and still use his wings to fly). If you knew the answer to that and then found out the weight of a plane you could figure out if it is theoretically possible.


----------



## demoivre (2 Dec 2008)

627,466,667 bees  should be able to lift a fully loaded Boeing 737-300 ( about  90 milligrams each). Personally wouldn't like to be depending on them holding it up if I was an aircraft engineer working on the undercarriage though!


----------



## DaveD (2 Dec 2008)

demoivre said:


> 627,466,667 bees  should be able to lift a fully loaded Boeing 737-300 ( about  90 milligrams each). Personally wouldn't like to be depending on them holding it up if I was an aircraft engineer working on the undercarriage though!



Thanks for that confirmation demoivre, seems like a lot of bees, is there actually enough surface area to fit that many bees underneath a 737-300, or would they have to double up?


----------



## Teabag (2 Dec 2008)

demoivre said:


> 627,466,667 bees  should be able to lift a fully loaded Boeing 737-300



627,466,667 "worker" bees to be precise. No public service bees.


----------



## csirl (2 Dec 2008)

I dont think they would be able to hold a plane up - their wings are on their backs, so if the plane was resting on them, they wouldnt be able to flap them.

You'd need to have them flying above the plane and pulling it with a micro rope.


----------



## truthseeker (2 Dec 2008)

csirl said:


> I dont think they would be able to hold a plane up - their wings are on their backs, so if the plane was resting on them, they wouldnt be able to flap them.


 

Could they not sort of prop it up on their noses and keep flapping away with the wings?


----------



## Caveat (2 Dec 2008)

Anyway, imagine if the bees suddenly noticed a strange cloud formation in the shape of a massive flower? The plane would be rightly fecked then.


----------



## DaveD (2 Dec 2008)

Caveat said:


> Anyway, imagine if the bees suddenly noticed a strange cloud formation in the shape of a massive flower? The plane would be rightly fecked then.




Don't think its the shape of the object they're attracted to, rather the colour. And I have to assume the bees in question are focused on the job in hand and not easily distracted.


----------



## sandrat (2 Dec 2008)

they are worker bees after all and not public sector ones.....


----------



## Jock04 (2 Dec 2008)




----------



## Simeon (2 Dec 2008)

Teabag said:


> 627,466,667 "worker" bees to be precise. No public service bees.


Hey, you might be reported to the union for making slanderous remarks


----------



## cole (2 Dec 2008)

Teabag said:


> 627,466,667 "worker" bees to be precise. No public service bees.


 
You're right...it'd take far fewer public service bees.


----------



## Teabag (2 Dec 2008)

cole said:


> You're right...it'd take far fewer public service bees.



Yeah just one 'King' Bee with lots of cash to sweeten the deal. Life in the FÁS lane and all that...


----------



## Simeon (2 Dec 2008)

I think I saw a Gary Larsen cartoon once where a giant fly/bee was, singlehandedly flying Concorde ........ and all the female passengers had beehive hairstyles.


----------



## DavyJones (2 Dec 2008)

csirl said:


> I dont think they would be able to hold a plane up - their wings are on their backs, so if the plane was resting on them, they wouldnt be able to flap them.
> 
> You'd need to have them flying above the plane and pulling it with a micro rope.




They would push their feet on the bottom of  plane wings and body and fly upside down. Simple really


----------



## Hoagy (2 Dec 2008)

Are they European bees or African bees?


----------



## sandrat (2 Dec 2008)

are they killer bees?


----------



## DaveD (3 Dec 2008)

I'm getting the impression that people are not taking my query seriously!


----------



## PMU (3 Dec 2008)

demoivre said:


> 627,466,667 bees  should be able to lift a fully loaded Boeing 737-300 ( about  90 milligrams each).


  It’s more than double this number: your calculation assumes a bee can carry its own weight of 90 milligrammes, but, AFAIK, the max amount of nectar a bee can carry is about 45% of its weight.


----------



## DaveD (4 Dec 2008)

PMU said:


> It’s more than double this number: your calculation assumes a bee can carry its own weight of 90 milligrammes, but, AFAIK, the max amount of nectar a bee can carry is about 45% of its weight.



So that's 1,394,370,371 bees needed! But would they all fit on the surface area of the underside of a Boeing 737-300? This is more important than some may realise, particularly in my house.


----------



## michaelm (4 Dec 2008)

DaveD said:


> So that's 1,394,370,371 bees needed! But would they all fit on the surface area of the underside of a Boeing 737-300? This is more important than some may realise, particularly in my house.


Methinks not.  Probably have to suspend the plane.  Also maybe a height problem re thickness of the air.


----------

