What’s with FBN and the bees?
What do bees have to do with replacement filler and capper parts?
Nothing!
“Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t know it so it goes on flying anyway.”
— Mary Kay Ash, Entrepreneur
It is this idea that became part of FBN culture. Look for solutions to problems through the eyes of a bumblebee. Throw out any preconceived notions of what you’re supposed to be able to do and proceed like a bumblebee.
During the early days of FBN, founder Jim Turley discovered this known paradox through his love of aviation and bee farming. He found it to be a wonderful inspiration for himself, and he later shared it with his employees.
It’s known that Bumblebees fly, but calculations based on fixed-wing studies or simplified linear oscillating airfoil wings fail to show how enough lift can be generated to get the huge mass of a bumblebee, compared to its wing size, off the ground. That’s not surprising because the bumblebees’ wings are not fixed, but moving. They are also not simple airfoils like an airplane wing and they don’t move in a simple way. A number of studies have been conducted to try to understand this bee’s unique method of flying.
Learning how bumblebees fly requires taking into consideration the roughness and flexibility of their wings. Bumblebees actually have 4 wings with a larger pair in front and a smaller pair in back fastened to the front wings by a series of tiny hooks. As the wings move, they bend and create airflow separation and an effect called dynamic stall which results in a large air vortex above the wing. These vortices provide greater lift with minimal energy.
Don’t think the flight of the bumblebee doesn’t take much energy. The bee’s wings beat 130 or more times per second. The flight muscles which power the wings are large for the bee’s size, taking up almost the entire volume of the thorax, the mid-section of the bee. In fact, the buzzing you hear is not the beat of the wings, but the pulsing vibration of the powerful flight muscles. Scientists have found that bumblebees still buzz when their wings are removed.
In cooler temperatures, the bumblebee has to warm up before flying. It cannot fly unless its wing muscle temperature is 86 degrees. When the surrounding temperature is cooler, the bumblebee shivers to raise its wing muscle temperature before it can take off. Depending on air temperature and the bee’s temperature (such as sitting in the sunshine) it may take a few seconds up to 15 minutes to raise the temperature enough to take off. In the meantime, the bee is sort of sitting on the runway waiting for clearance.
In many ways, FBN operates like the bumblebee. By embracing the paradox of “impossible” challenges, we’ve learned to think beyond traditional limitations and find innovative solutions for our customers’ bottling and capping needs. Just as the bumblebee defies expectations through the unique mechanics of its flight, FBN challenges preconceived notions about what’s achievable in manufacturing and service.
Whether it’s by leveraging advanced technologies or redefining processes, we strive to adapt, innovate, and thrive—buzzing with purpose to keep your operations running smoothly. Like the bumblebee, we don’t just overcome obstacles; we soar.
Throughout history, bee symbolism has embodied focus, dedication, hard work, teamwork, generosity, prosperity, and fertility. Bees generally serve as a symbol of rejuvenation and divinity in many cultures, but the folklore detailing the bees’ abilities varies from region to region.