Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Warp Speed Mr.Bee!

Dr.Freemanstein - 24-10-2005 at 14:15

Here's a question...

Given that honey-bees navigate by means of a ring of Iron-Oxide within their bodies, and that they are attracted/repelled by magnetic fields.

Then, if you were to arrange a large, high powered linear e.m coil. And set it up near a colony of honey-bees.

(a) would it significantly disturb their ability to find food/ the hive.

(b) Would they be attracted to one of the poles of the e.m coil, and be thus fired through the coil rail-gun style???

(Disclaimer: This question is purely hypothetical, and i never have, and never will condone experimenting with animals that could be significantly detrimental to their well-beeing!)

[Edited on 24-10-2005 by Dr.Freemanstein]

The_Davster - 24-10-2005 at 16:04

Hehe....bee gun...
I doubt the ammount of iron oxide in the bee would be enough for sugnificant attraction between the bee and coil, and that any weak attraction could easily be counteracted by the bee's strength. BTW it would be "coil gun style" not "rail gun style"(unless you plan to run an electric current through the bee to accelerate it:P.)

EDIT: The coil would have to work so that some sort of detector would identify the bee's entry so that the current was only on for a short period of time, otherwise the bee would be suspended in the centre of the coil. Of course only if what above is untrue.

For a bee gun, I imagine compressed gas is the way to go;)

[Edited on 25-10-2005 by rogue chemist]

12AX7 - 25-10-2005 at 08:33

There are no magnetic monopoles, so you can't shoot bees with a static field... however an electric field, say a Van De Graff generator charging a screen, could give the bees some extra oomph... :P

Tim