Diapausing bumble bee queens avoid drowning by using underwater respiration, anaerobic metabolism, and profound metabolic depression

Overwintering bumble bee queens enter a state of diapause, remaining buried underground until spring. Remarkably, queens of the common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) can survive complete submersion for at least one week. We investigated the physiological mechanisms enabling this tolerance, testing the hypothesis that submerged diapausing queens rely on both underwater respiration and anaerobic metabolism for survival. Using respirometry, we detected low but consistent CO2 production during submersion, persisting through four and eight days underwater. Underwater gas exchange, measured from CO2 levels in the headspace of a respirometry chamber, was supported by a decline in dissolved oxygen in the water. Submerged bees also accumulated lactate as an anaerobic end-product during submersion, which decreased to pre-submersion levels after a week of recovery. Recovery was characterized by an immediate increase in metabolic rate, followed by a gradual decline to pre-submersion levels o..., , # Data from: Diapausing bumble bee queens avoid drowning by using underwater respiration, anaerobic metabolism, and profound metabolic depression

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.hdr7sqvx4](10.5061/dryad.hdr7sqvx4)

## Description of the data and file structure

Four datasets were collected from diapausing bumble bee queens (*Bombus impatiens*).

### Files and variables

#### File: AllDataCompiled.xlsx

**Description:** Four datasets were collected from diapausing bumble bee queens (*Bombus impatiens*).

The first data set, named \"submersionCO2\", presents the individual identification, the body mass (g), and carbon dioxide production rates (μL CO~2~/hr/g) of diapausing queens before being submerged in water (PreD1), immediately after submersion (SubD1), and four (SubD4) and eight (SubD8) days of continuous submersion.

##### Variables

* Individual ID
* Body mass (g)
* Treatment:  (Presubmersion = PreD1; submersion day 1 = SubD1; submersion day 4 = SubD4; submersion day 8 = SubD8)
* Carbon ...,