Study finds bumblebees able to fly as high as Mount Everest

(Phys.org) —A pair of researchers has found that alpine bumblebees are able to fly at altitudes in excess of twenty nine thousand simulated feet—higher than Mount Everest. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, Michael Dillon and Robert Dudley, of the University of California and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, respectively, describe experiments they conducted with alpine bumblebees in pressure chambers and their theories as to why the bees have such high flying skills.