Swarming honeybees have a density-dependent effect on atmospheric electricity

On October 24th 2022, iScience has published a new study: “Observed electric charge of insect swarms and their contribution to atmospheric electricity“, carried out by a group of scientists from the School of Biological Sciences of the University of Bristol and the Department of Meteorology of the University of Reading, which explains how insects can have effects on atmospheric electricity as weather events.

The finding, which researchers made by measuring the electrical fields around honeybee (apis mellifera) hives, reveals that bees can produce as much atmospheric electricity as a thunderstorm. This can play an important role in steering dust to shape unpredictable weather patterns; and their impact may even need to be included in future climate models.

Read this interesting study here.