A Swarm of Honeybees Can Generate Electricity as Strong as a Thunderstorm, New Research Says

Did you know that honeybees can help generate electricity? They apparently can, and it's mind-blowing. Researchers from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom discovered this phenomenon by happenstance in a paper published on Monday in the journal iScience. The study's author, biologist Ellard Hunting, told CNN that the Bristol team was deciphering how different organisms use the static fields in the environment. When bees fly, microscopic hair on their bodies vibrates and absorbs an electrostatic charge as they travel through the air. Furthermore, scientists also found that these insect clouds may create 100 to 1000 volts per metre by using electric field sensors and cameras, which has the same charge density as a thunderstorm, as per iScience. When insects fly, they all create electricity as a result of friction in the air. But the magnitude of the charge depends on the species of insect. Individual bees carry a smaller amount of electricity that was often overlooked, so "this effect (in swarming bees) came as a surprise," Hunting said.