Why do bumblebees pulse their abdomen? 🤔 This is essentially the bumblebee version of deep breathing. Bumblebees use a process called abdominal pumping to increase the flow of air through the trachea to move oxygen to their muscles 😮‍💨 It's not an automatic process, like breathing, but more deliberate, a bit like how a freediver performs deep breathing to fully oxygenate themselves before diving 🤿 Bumblebees mostly use abdominal pumping to better oxygenate their flight muscles and raise the