Fact check: False claim that bumblebees use acoustic levitation to move through the air

The claim: Bumblebees don’t fly but levitate through acoustic levitation

Bees affect the ecosystem through pollination, but some social media users are claiming one type of bee – the bumblebee – has a unique ability: levitation.  

“When they beat their wings very fast, they build up energy inside a hollow cavity near their larynx. When it reaches 7.83Hz matching the earths magnetic frequency, they are able to levitate,” reads part of an Aug. 14 Facebook post that was shared more than 150 times in two days.

But the claim is baseless. Experts say bees are able to fly because of the flexible structure of their wings and a pressure differential between the air above and below them, which generates lift.

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USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the claim for comment. 

Wing anatomy, pressure differential allows bees to fly 

Leif Richardson, a conservation biologist who works with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, said the information in the post is “not true.” 

Richardson said part of the reason bumblebees can fly is “leading edge vortices," as referenced in a 2009 Oxford University study. 

As bees flap their wings, they essentially create a mini air vortex, which Richardson described as a “tiny hurricane" that sits just above the front edge of the wing. It makes it so air is less dense above the wing than below it – a pressure differential that generates lift and allows the bee to fly.  

It’s the same reason that airplanes can fly. 

Christina Grozinger, a professor of entomology and director of Pennsylvania State University's Center for Pollinator Research, said the claim is “definitely not true” in an email to USA TODAY on Aug. 16.

More: American bumblebees have disappeared from these 8 states. Now they could face extinction.

“If you watch bumblebees visiting flowers in a garden, it is very clear that they are capable of sophisticated flight patterns,” Grozinger said. “This is only possible because of precise movements of their wings and wing muscles, controlled by their brains, which allow them to navigate complex and changing environments with ease.”

Arizona State University’s “Ask a Biologist” section of its website echoes their statements. It notes that bee wings are “not rigid, but twist and rotate during flight.” Their wings make “short, quick sweeping motions front and back, front and back” that create enough lift for flight.

The post's other claims are also untrue 

Beyond the mechanics of bee flight, Richardson said there are several other aspects of the post that are not true. 

First, he said bees don’t have a larynx as the post claims. The larynx, often referred to as the voice box because it holds the vocal cords, is part of the respiratory system for humans and other mammals. 

Richardson said bees do have what could be described as hollow cavities in their bodies, but that’s their trachea, which is part of their respiratory system. 

Though they don't use acoustic levitation, Richardson said vibration through thoracic muscles is a “key part of the life of a bee” and can be used to communicate with other bees or shake the pollen from a flower.  

Additionally, the post's claim of a 7.83Hz frequency is also off-base. Richardson said the frequency at which bees flap their wings can change depending on factors such as their species or the elevation they're flying at. 

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Scientists have used acoustic levitation to levitate objects including insects, as reported by The Washington Post, but Richardson said he’s “not aware of any organism in nature” that has the inherent ability to levitate through sound. 

“Certainly bees are not known to do that,” Richardson said. 

AFP Fact Check also debunked the claim.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that bumblebees don’t fly but levitate through acoustic levitation. Experts told USA TODAY bees are able to fly because of the flexible structure of their wings and a pressure differential that exists in the air above and below them, which generates lift. 

Our fact-check sources: 

• Arizona State University, accessed Aug. 19, Bee Anatomy 
• Leif Richardson, Aug. 17, Phone interview with USA TODAY
• Christina Grozinger, Aug. 16, Email to USA TODAY 
• Arizona State University, accessed Aug. 16, What’s All the Buzz—How Do Bees Fly?
• NASA, accessed Aug. 16, Bernoulli's Principle 
• Journal of Experimental Botany, Sept. 19, 2021, How and why do bees buzz? Implications for buzz pollination
• AFP Fact Check, Sept. 7, 2020, Hoax circulates online that bumblebees use 'acoustic levitation' to fly
• The Washington Post, July 15, 2013, Sound waves can be used to levitate and move objects, study says 
• Oxford University, Jan. 16, 2009, Smoke visualization of free-flying bumblebees indicates independent leading-edge vortices on each wing pair

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