Flight Muscles
In order to take flight, bees must activate flight muscles located in the thorax. These muscles are not attached directly to the wings, like birds or bats (see other term projects on birds or bats linked accordingly). Wing movement is primarily driven by two main muscles: the dorsoventral muscles (DVM) and the dorsal longitudinal muscle (DLM). The DVMs run from superior to inferior in the thorax and the DLMs run from posterior to anterior of the thorax. As the DVMs contract, this causes the wings of the bee to flap its wings up and as the DLMs contract (while the DVMs relax), the wings will flap down. The bee will alternate contractions of these muscles to take flight.
Bees are able to flap their wings so quickly because their muscles have stretch activation. This is when muscles activate once they are stretched to a certain extent. Since the DVMs and DLMs act as opposing forces on one another, one will stretch while the other contracts. This allows the flight muscles to activate one another without the need for the brain to send an action potential to the muscles each time the wing needs to be flapped up or down [3]. This is an incredibly efficient way of flying because less metabolic energy is spent using the nervous system and since bee wings are much lighter than bird wings in proportion to body size, bees can flap their wings much faster.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Beekeeping/comments/ebm7xu/apis_mellifera_head_histologic_section/
https://www.animal-dynamics.com/ad-blog/2019/9/9/how-do-bumblebees-fly
https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2019/02/how-bees-stay-cool-hot-summer-days