Pro Bee Attack

[snowghost]

Flying Saturday and the Phantom 4 Pro was suddenly attacked by bees. Never seen anything like it.

 

[Solsearcher]

WTF!?!??!!

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

It's not that uncommon, if you can find a good clear shot of a bee I'd have a guess it will turn out to be a drone (male) with a fattish body and a bluntish rear end (no sting) rather than a worker (sterile female ) with thinner body and a tapered rear end.

 

[snowghost]

So rather than an attack this was a mating call?

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

So rather than an attack this was a mating call?

If I remember correctly, possible, there was speculation that the vibrations sent out but the props etc. excite the drones or resemble the vibrations of a mating flight. Honey bee queens mate on the wing. Mating is fatal for the drone, his bits are torn out, ouch!

 

[YVRGUY]

Flying Saturday and the Phantom 4 Pro was suddenly attacked by bees. Never seen anything like it.

In my area I have hummingbirds to contend with. For some reason they like to check my drone out when I’m hovering and waiting for a home point. It’s like the drone is the mother of all hummingbirds.

I haven’t had a bee encounter up to this point in my flying history, but, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility. I feel that both bees and hummingbirds are attracted by the frequency of the drone’s props when in flight. Drone prop rpm can vary from 10k to 30k depending on the type of drone…thus the high frequency / pitch.

Starting with the basics… all bees buzz when they fly. The buzzing sound we hear is because bees can flap their wings at a pretty impressive 230 beats per second. This rapid wing beat causes the air around the bee to vibrate and that vibration travels to our ear and we interpret that vibration as a buzzing sound.

Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 22 have found that those vibrations carry important information about where their potential mates are from. The findings are the first to suggest that bees rely on vibrations, in addition to chemical signals, as a mode of mate recognition.

Maybe the bees were checking you out as a potential mate

As for hummingbirds. The number of times a hummingbird's wings beat is different from one species to another, and ranges from 720 to 5400 times per minute when hovering.

My hummingbirds are the Ruby Throated variety that beat at 5.5k beats per minute. They stick to their feeders more now since they have become accustomed to the odd takeoff from home. I’m not sure if My drone was being sized up as a potential mate

I now have a pair of Ravens nesting in my back yard. It is now a NO FLY ZONE for time being.

Thanks for sharing your video

 

[Trackerputnam]

In my area I have hummingbirds to contend with. For some reason they like to check my drone out when I’m hovering and waiting for a home point. It’s like the drone is the mother of all hummingbirds.

I haven’t had a bee encounter up to this point in my flying history, but, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility. I feel that both bees and hummingbirds are attracted by the frequency of the drone’s props when in flight. Drone prop rpm can vary from 10k to 30k depending on the type of drone…thus the high frequency / pitch.

Starting with the basics… all bees buzz when they fly. The buzzing sound we hear is because bees can flap their wings at a pretty impressive 230 beats per second. This rapid wing beat causes the air around the bee to vibrate and that vibration travels to our ear and we interpret that vibration as a buzzing sound.

Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 22 have found that those vibrations carry important information about where their potential mates are from. The findings are the first to suggest that bees rely on vibrations, in addition to chemical signals, as a mode of mate recognition.

Maybe the bees were checking you out as a potential mate

As for hummingbirds. The number of times a hummingbird's wings beat is different from one species to another, and ranges from 720 to 5400 times per minute when hovering.

My hummingbirds are the Ruby Throated variety that beat at 5.5k beats per minute. They stick to their feeders more now since they have become accustomed to the odd takeoff from home. I’m not sure if My drone was being sized up as a potential mate

I now have a pair of Ravens nesting in my back yard. It is now a NO FLY ZONE for time being.

Thanks for sharing your video

Something you said at the beginning caught my eye? You are taking off before you have gps home point lock? Then hovering till you get it? Do you do this as a standard practice? Only once in hundreds of flights have I done this. And it was dictated by the tree cover. But the pages of the forum are full of people with strange and catastrophic events doing this, and should be avoided.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Do you do this as a standard practice?

I do, every time the ground is in the GPS shadow of trees etc..
It is only 'dangerous' if you are unaware you are doing it and do not reset the home point appropriately after sufficient satellites have been obtained. I bring the drone overhead and reset the home point to the drone's position

 

[Dale D]

Flying Saturday and the Phantom 4 Pro was suddenly attacked by bees. Never seen anything like it.

Hmmm? Maybe they're attracted to the sound of the drone, which sound like a bee swarm to some people. Let's all now make little bees.

Dale

 

[YVRGUY]

Something you said at the beginning caught my eye? You are taking off before you have gps home point lock? Then hovering till you get it? Do you do this as a standard practice? Only once in hundreds of flights have I done this. And it was dictated by the tree cover. But the pages of the forum are full of people with strange and catastrophic events doing this, and should be avoided.

Trackerputnum,

To clarify. I put down my landing pad, turn on my drone, then place the drone on the pad. I then pair up to the RC, take the drone up vertically 4-5’ and wait for the home point to set and observe the drone. Once set…I then “take off” which you said…not me. I do this procedure every flight…is that wrong? So far my safe RTH is spotless. Some of you may just let it wind up on the tarmac while locking on to the RTH…that’s ok. By letting the drone hover at 4-5’ it also lets me observe the drone for any malfunctions . Once all is …I’m gone . NO strange or catastrophic events…none. Note: on the majority of my initial set ups the RTH sets before I even begin to hover at 4-5’. I still hover and observe for any possible peculiarities. Only once have I observed obvious abnormal flight characteristics during the hover stage. It occurred after a firmware upgrade. It was so bad that if I had just taken off…I may have had one of those “strange and catastrophic “ experiences you mentioned.

I’ll continue to prepare for flights my way, but, thank you for your input.

Safe flights

 

[Cymruflyer]

When I have all the satellites showing and the green okay to takeoff shows, I then take off and let it hover in place until I hear the "The home point has been updated please check it on the map" and then I go fly. I understand that at this point in time the drone takes a photo of where it just took off from as it hovers and turns that into an algorithm to use to find its way back if there was a Return to Home chosen, to get it back.

 

[zeusfl]

Interesting. I never will imagine they will be at that high altitude.

 

[Mt-Ed]

Not sure where they were flying, but, the southern US is populated with Africanized honey bees which are notoriously aggressive. Once they are triggered, they attack en mass, often killing the subject irritating them, such as horses, dogs, etc. and sometimes humans.

 

[360 Guy]

I don't think your drone was attacked but my guess is, you were in their flight path as the bees were looking for a new (home) location.
Your drone was hovering in one location, and I'm guessing again, you were in their way as they follow a scent path.
Have to ask yourself...........why would bees attack a drone in mid air? Not logical.

 

[snowghost]

I think the more likely reason is drone bees thinking the Phantom was a queen bee.

 

[Lets Fly]

Flying Saturday and the Phantom 4 Pro was suddenly attacked by bees. Never seen anything like it.

I rarely can fly without some bees flying around the drone, and it always first occurs at about 100 feet.