Those who have studied bees have long wondered how they always manage to find their way home. No matter how strong the cross-winds are, they never seem to get blown off course. Now, however, biologists believe they have discovered their secret - by using radar to observe their flight patterns.
To do so, they fitted bees with tiny electronic instruments, which enabled the scientists to track all their movements over several kilometres. What this showed them was that bees seem to know exactly how far the wind is blowing them off course, and they react to this by adjusting their flight direction accordingly.
Aircraft pilots do something similar, using computers to calculate wind speed and direction. Bees, on the other hand, do the same thing by checking the position of the sun and watching how the ground appears to be moving below them. If the wind is affecting the way they are going, they change direction.
During this experiment, the researchers also discovered that the wind speed affects the height at which bees fly. On windy days, it appears, bees flying in opposite direction to the wind tend to fly lower than usual. This, they found, is because it normally blows more strongly higher up. Bees flying in the same direction as the wind, however, can use this to save energy by flying at greater heights.
(Adapted from FCE Trainers by Peter May)