Bumble bee queens can survive for many days underwater without drowning. Recent research conducted at the University of Ottawa, Canada, has demonstrated this ability by studying queens of Bombus impatiens. The insects were able to survive up to eight days underwater by depressing their metabolism and using anaerobic pathways.
The queens also appear to perform a form of underwater respiration, as indicated by a reduction in oxygen concentration in the water and an increase in carbon dioxide in the surrounding air.
This finding reveals another extraordinary survival strategy of this bumblebee species, which overwinters in underground cavities where there is a high risk of flooding during the cold and rainy season.

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