UTSA professor reveals buzz on bee behavior during eclipses

To date, only a handful of published papers exist on the topic.

"Different animals have been analyzed during eclipses, like in zoos for example, for decades. But bees are very under researched," Ozturk said. "This will be very valuable data."

Preceding the annular eclipse in October, Ozturk nestled recording devices into beehives to capture how bees behave during the progression of the solar eclipse. He's continuing his study with the total solar eclipse just two weeks away.

Bees have their own circadian rhythm like we have. When the sun starts rising, bees exit from their homes to forage. As the sun sets, they return home. They find their way with the polarization the of the sunlight," Ozturk explained.

Sunlight helps guide bees as they search for nectar and bring it back to their hives. Even during a cloudy day, there is still available sunlight for bees to orient themselves in the world.

"Most of them start coming back home when it gets darker. They feel the sunlight decrease. But during eclipse time if they have gone a little farther outside the five-mile radius, they'll likely settle on a flower," Ozturk said. "I don't know what they are feeling, but they may feel that it's dark and they cannot go home so it's better to take some kind of sleep or rest on the flower. And again, when the eclipse is over, they just return to foraging."