Math Trek Math Flight of the Bumblebee By Ivars Peterson September 9, 2004 at 4:39 pm - More than 2 years ago Share this:Share Share via email (Opens in new window) Email Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Click to print (Opens in new window) Print “Like the bumblebee, they said it could never fly.” A bumblebee and a swallowtail butterfly share a thistle. John & Karen Hollingsworth, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service This statement appeared a few years ago in Popular Science, starting off an article about drag racing. Indeed, the venerable line about scientists having proved that a bumblebee can’t fly appears regularly in magazine and newspaper stories.