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...

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