This is cool. And perfect for springtime. Part of the Flightartists Project, this video shows a honeybee as it starts its flight after collecting nectar, filmed with a high speed camera at 3000 frames per second.
Bee in ultra slow motion from Joris Schaap on Vimeo.
Scientists say that the secret of honeybee flight is a combination of short, choppy wing strokes, a rapid rotation of the wing as it flops over and reverses direction, and a very fast wing-beat frequency. Wing-beat frequency normally increases as body size decreases, but as the bee’s wing beat covers such a small arc, it flaps approximately 230 times per second, faster than a fruitfly (200 times per second) which is 80 times smaller.