Why do bees buzz?
For grown-ups: the science
Bees buzz when their fast wings and wing muscles shake the air.
Most bee buzz is produced by rapid wingbeats, which create pressure waves in air that humans hear as sound. Bees also vibrate their flight muscles without flying to warm themselves and, in some species, to release pollen from flowers through buzz pollination.
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Transcript
A bee zips past a bright flower with a tiny hum. Why do bees buzz?
Bees flap their wings very fast, often more than 200 times each second. Fast-moving wings shake the air.
Those little shakes travel through the air to our ears. Our ears hear the shaking as a buzz.
A bee also uses its wing muscles to warm up and sometimes shake pollen from flowers. So buzzing can help a bee get ready and gather food.
So bees buzz because fast wings and wing muscles shake the air. Our ears catch those tiny air shakes!