JAPANESE HORNETS (Vespa mandarinia japonica) slaughter a hive
of EUROPEAN HONEY BEES (Apis mellifera)
@thedailywh.at published this video (via Kottke) this morning. I wanted to add a note.
In Japan, beekeepers often prefer Western honey bees because they are more productive than the endemic Japanese honey bees. However, these hornets will often prey on the bees.
The Bad News
Once a Japanese giant hornet has located a hive of European honey bees it leaves pheromone markers around it which attract nest mates. A single hornet can kill forty European honey bees in a minute and a group of 30 hornets can finish off an entire hive containing 30,000 bees in about three hours. The hornets not only kill the bees, but also dismember them. They return to their nest with the bee thoraxes which they feed to their own larvae. The hornets also gorge themselves on the bees’ honey.
The Good News
The native Japanese honey bee, has a defense against attacks of this manner. When a hornet approaches the hive. the bee workers emerge in an angry cloud-formation with some 500 individuals. They form a tight ball around the hornet and their vibrating wings increases the temperature forming a convection oven. Because bees can survive higher temperatures than the hornet, the latter dies.
It is a cautionary tale - of a native species over an introduced species.
—-
These hornets are large, but not particularly aggressive with humans, however being stung is extremely painful and requires hospital treatment. On average 40 people die every year of anaphylactic shock after having been stung.
Fact Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_giant_hornet
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most epic things Ive seen…
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actually freaks me out
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thought your block was rough …
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Surprisingly intense. poor
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Goosebumps, goosebumps everywhere… Man, I HATE wasps!
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most impressive thing I’ve seen
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omg, those lil guys never stood a chance :c
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That’s amazing!
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daisydooo reblogged this from nguyenkimyen and added:
Jeeebus christ, this looks like my fucking nightmares. Bees and wasps..
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otherasian reblogged this from animalworld and added:
are super cool :) i watched...on animal planet!
meggymoosey reblogged this from silveryshadow and added:
This legit made me cry. y u no like bees, hornets?!
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This was featured in #Animals
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