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Insects

Western honey bee

Dean's table gives an empty worker honey bee an average airspeed of 18.6 mph (8.3 m/s), tethered, from Hansson 1945. A laden worker on the same method is 16.1 mph (7.2 m/s).

A western honey bee can travel 18.6 mph (8.3 m/s), a verified measurement.

Also known as Apis mellifera, honeybee
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Top speed

Published as 8.3 m/sPublished as 8.3 m/sPublished as 8.3 m/s

Dean, Table 1. Apis mellifera worker, empty: 18.6 mph (8.3 m/s), average, airspeed, tethered, Hansson 1945. The laden worker on the same method is 16.1 mph (7.2 m/s) and is not a separate record. Ground-speed cells for workers, including 12.4 mph (5.56 m/s) and 13.7 mph (6.12 m/s), are not this row. The figure is 18.6 mph (8.3 m/s).

VerifiedUniversity of Florida, Department of Entomology and Nematology (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 80% of Usain Bolt's 100 m world-record paceSourced · Usain Bolt, 100 m in 9.58 s. World Athletics, Berlin 2009. Averaged over the race
  • 29% of a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • A football field in 11 sConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

Quick answers

People also ask

How fast can a western honey bee travel?

A western honey bee can travel 18.6 mph (8.3 m/s), a verified measurement.

Is that figure claimed or verified?

Western honey bee is labeled Verified. Independently measured and published, for example in a peer-reviewed study or with certified timing.

What is the source?

The figure cites University of Florida, Department of Entomology and Nematology, “Book of Insect Records, Chapter 1, empty honey bee.”

Where does Western honey bee rank?

Western honey bee is 4th of 10 on Fastest Insects.

Mechanism

Why it's so fast

An empty worker honey bee is ranked at 18.6 mph (8.3 m/s) airspeed, tethered, from Hansson 1945 as Dean reprints it. At his key of about 2.2 mph per m/s, that is about 18 mph. A laden worker on the same method is 16.1 mph (7.2 m/s).

Empty worker
18.6 mph (8.3 m/s)
Laden worker
16.1 mph (7.2 m/s)
Method
Tethered

  1. A tether reads airspeed

    The cell is coded A / A / T: average airspeed, tethered. The insect is held, so the number is not speed over the ground and not a tailwind. Ground-speed cells for workers, 12.4 mph (5.56 m/s) and 13.7 mph (6.12 m/s), are a different quantity and are not the figure.

  2. A load slows the same test

    Dean’s next cell is a full worker at 16.1 mph (7.2 m/s), still Hansson 1945, still tethered. Carrying nectar is slower on that method. The empty worker is the one that counts because it is the faster of the two tethered airspeeds.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 29.9km/h18.6mph8.3m/s16.1knRanked figure

    Dean, Table 1. Apis mellifera worker, empty: 18.6 mph (8.3 m/s), average, airspeed, tethered, Hansson 1945. The laden worker on the same method is 16.1 mph (7.2 m/s) and is not a separate record. Ground-speed cells for workers, including 12.4 mph (5.56 m/s) and 13.7 mph (6.12 m/s), are not this row. The figure is 18.6 mph (8.3 m/s).

    Tethered airspeed. The full worker is 16.1 mph (7.2 m/s) on the same method. Ground-speed rows are not substituted.

    Verified
    University of Florida, Department of Entomology and Nematology (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Species
Apis mellifera
Empty worker
18.6 mph (8.3 m/s), tethered
Laden worker
16.1 mph (7.2 m/s), not the figure

Context

Background

Dean’s Table 1 lists an empty worker of the western honey bee, Apis mellifera, at 18.6 mph (8.3 m/s). The codes are average, airspeed, tethered, and the citation is Hansson 1945. A tethered measurement holds the insect in place and reads airspeed, which is why this cell is ranked and a ground-speed cell is not. The figure is 18.6 mph (8.3 m/s), qualifier verified.

The same table gives a full worker 16.1 mph (7.2 m/s) on the same tethered method. Carrying a load is a slower cell, not a second entry. Other honey-bee rows in the table are ground speeds, including 12.4 mph (5.56 m/s) and 13.7 mph (6.12 m/s). Those are a different quantity.

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