An experimental characterization of how honeybees negotiate openings of varying shape and size. High-speed tracking shows bees fly along the bilateral center between the aperture's side edges regardless of size, lower their vertical position as apertures widen, and select altitude according to the curvature of the edge beneath them. Bees regulate speed and height to hold a roughly constant ventral optic flow of about 778 deg/s, indicating that flight through confined spaces is guided by a narrow, ventrally directed region of the visual field.
This experimental study characterizes how honeybees fly through apertures of varying shape and size. Using high-speed cameras to reconstruct flight trajectories, the authors find bees traverse along …