Do Bees Sleep? The Science Suggests They Do! With Video

5 Facts About Bees And Sleep

1. In general, females mostly sleep in the nest, (or hive in the case of honey bees).  Male bees usually sleep outside the nest.2. Some solitary bee species sleep by grasping the very end of a flower stem or twig only with their mandibles.  They may keep perfectly still, until the following morning1.3. Some solitary species return to the same sleeping spot each night1.4. Male bumble bees usually sleep alone.  However, males of different solitary species sleep singly, with others, or huddled together in groups inside flowers1.5. Scientists have found that honey bees demonstrate some similar sleep states to those observed in humans and mammals2.

Where do bees sleep?

It depends on the species. 

Bumble bees Males are usually seen sleeping or resting alone, perhaps in or on a flower, or grasping onto a plant leaf or stem, but sometimes they might be seen resting on a wall or simply on the ground.

Solitary species Some species may rest singly, with other males (sometimes even of different species)1 or huddled together in groups1.Amazingly, some species are able to grasp the end of a stem or twig with only their mandibles (jaws) and remain perfectly still until the following morning1.Other solitary species may secure themselves by grasping hold of a stem or twig with their legs.

Honey beesHoney bee colonies are superorganisms of many thousands of individuals, and the sleeping location within a nest or hive is partly dependent on the role of the individual within the colony.  This topic is explored in greater detail below.

How do we know bees sleep and how do they sleep?

To answer this question, scientists say that it all depends on how we define ‘sleep’, and it seems that the state we refer to as ‘sleep’ in humans and mammals is also witnessed in bees. 

This means that scientists studying honey bees in particular, have recorded physical conditions and postures akin to those witnessed in humans and mammals as they snooze2.  

Sleep in honey bees has been found to be similar to mammals in the following ways, including:

1. Relaxed body posture, and not moving (immobile)When a bee is in deep sleep, they have a distinct sleeping posture. Their antennae droop downwards, the upper body (thorax) drops as does the tip of the abdomen (or tail), and the wings rest on the body. 

Look closely, and you can see this in the images below. In the first image (A), the bee is alert: it has its wings up and extended, the whole body is off the ‘floor’, and antennae are facing forward.  As the bee falls into a deep sleep in picture D, the antennae are drooping and the body and wings are relaxed.

2. Drop in body temperatureScientist also found that the body temperature of bees drops when they sleep, which is also the case with humans. 

3. The deeper the sleep, the harder it is to wake the sleeper!It is even the case that the deeper a bee is sleeping, the brighter the light needed to wake the bee2, which again, tends to be the same with humans. 

4. Brain patternsFinally, certain distinct patterns happen in the bee brain when bees are sleeping.