Can a bee survive being frozen and thawed out?

0 votes
asked May 20, 2023 in Science by 200PMC (740 points)
Can a bee survive being frozen and thawed out?

1 Answer

0 votes
answered May 20, 2023 by 2021sucked (34,240 points)
A bee cannot survive being frozen and then thawed out.

Freezing the bee will kill it and then it won't be alive when you thaw it out.

I tried this myself when I was a kid as someone told me that if I froze the bee it would come back to life and after I froze the bee it was dead when I thawed it out.

However bees and most insects can survive really cold temperatures and then be okay when spring comes but you cannot put a bee or other insect in the freezer and then have it survive.

If the body temperature of the bee falls below 50°F (10ºC), paralysis of the bees' muscles can begin to take place.

At a body temperature of 45°F (7.2ºC) the bees appear “frozen”, meaning their muscles can no longer move.

A dying bee may have tattered wings and can be seen writhing on the ground.

A tired bee, on the other hand, may appear slower and more lethargic but will still have intact wings and respond to external stimuli.

102,489 questions

97,687 answers

1,295 comments

7,007,938 users

...