Bees became silent during the total solar eclipse

On August 21, 2017, millions of people across America stopped what they were doing to observe a total solar eclipse.

But a new study suggests that humans are not the only living things that have taken a break from their usual activities during this historic event.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the sun, moon, and earth align perfectly. The total solar eclipse of last year was the first in 99 years to touch a portion of the entire United States.

The new study revealed that bees were silent when they were on the way to the entire solar eclipse. The results were recently published in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America.

The research was conducted by Candace Galen, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Missouri. She found that many people were wondering how different animals could behave before the eclipse.

"It seemed like everyone and his dog were asking me what the animals would do during a total eclipse," Galen said in a statement.

Scientists had previously observed behavioral responses in some animals during solar eclipses. These include marine life forms, birds, antelopes and livestock. But very few studies have focused specifically on the behavior of insects during a solar eclipse, and none have treated bees.

Bees are important for the growth of wild and agricultural plants. They help spread the substances that allow the flowers to reproduce by the process called pollination.

Before the eclipse, Galen and his team had field-tested a system to examine pollination activities by bees. The system used listening devices placed in the nature to measure buzzing sounds. The buzzing is caused by movements of the muscles of the wings of bees during the flight.

Galen said that she thought "it seemed like an ideal solution" to use these same methods to examine bee behavior during an eclipse.

The researchers organized a team of about 400 citizen scientists and elementary school children in different parts of the country to help them in this experiment. The teams were deployed in three US states: Oregon, Idaho and Missouri. The three states represent different types of geology and the climate.

Very small microphones were hidden in the natural environment to capture the buzzing bees flying from flower to flower. In some areas, information on light and temperature was also collected.

The sounds were then examined to measure the level of activity before, during and after the solar eclipse. In the recordings made during the entire eclipse, the researchers heard an almost total silence. "One buzz broken calm, "said the study.

However, during partial steps 90% of the eclipse microphones recorded buzzing. This meant that there was still widespread activity of bees before and after the total solar eclipse. The researchers said that there was some slowdown in activity immediately before and after all.

Light changes affect the ability of the bee to see and find food sources and carry out pollination activities. Decreases in temperature prevent them from keeping their bodies warm enough to fly.

Galen said the results of the study were consistent with the normal behavior of the bees. Bees usually fly more slowly when the sun sets and return to their colonies at night. But what surprised the researchers, is how quickly the bees are silent during the whole.

"We did not expect the change to be so sudden, the bees would continue to fly to the totality and then only, would stop completely, "said Galen. "It was as if the lights were extinguishing at the summer camp! This surprised us. "

I am Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

We want your news. Write to us in the Comments section and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in this story

pollination – not. the process of moving a very fine dust produced by one plant for reproduction on another plant

buzzing – not. the sound of a bee when it flies

geology – not. the study of rocks and soil and the physical structure of the earth

interrupt – v. to stop an action or activity, usually for a short time

step – not. a period of development in a process

sudden – adj. suddenly and not expected