Stephen
Exactly! Which brings us to our next question, which is: Why do bees buzz?
Jo
[presses buzzer, which fizzes]
Stephen
Jo.
Jo
Because they can.
Alan
They buzz so that when they're trapped in the living room, you know to open a window.
Stephen
It's a thought.
Rich
Is it to, um, to sound industrious?
Stephen
Yeah . . .
Rich
You have to look at bees as, uh, as aerospace workers.
Stephen
Right.
Rich
And, uh . . . stay with me . . . !
Stephen
Yeah. It's all right.
Rich
When you're flying, you want to make a lot of noise. Because, uh, a quiet aircraft is, uh . . . [coughs] . . . crashing.
Stephen
Well . . .
Fred
I think it's, er . . . it's their . . . their knees knocking that makes the buzzing, isn't it? Because they hate flying. Terrified of flying.
Stephen
What is it that makes the noise?
Alan
The wings.
[Forfeit]
Stephen
No. No, it isn't, I'm afraid.
Alan
Not the wings, then!
Stephen
No. It won't be the wings.
Jo
Ah . . . testicles?
Alan
Their little tiny mouths! [buzzes, arms spread like wings]
Stephen
Well, it is sort of little mouths; it's through what they breathe that are called spiracles. [runs his hands down his sides] They have them down the si— . . . down their sides, through which they breathe. All buzzing insects--bluebottles are the same . . . it's not the wings. Less than one percent of the buzz comes from their wings. Bees breathe through fourteen holes, er, along the sides of their bodies, and they're called spiracles, er, and each one has a valve to limit the flow of air, which the bee can do . . . and they can tune it, rather like a . . . a trumpeter . . . sort of using his lips. What's that called? Embrouchere or whatever it's called . . .