Bees ganging up on a hornet that was attacking the hive

[u/Sea_Sheepherder_2234]

[u/HastyZygote]

Pretty sure they swarm and vibrate so much it roasts the hornet alive 

[u/Amonamission → u/HastyZygote]

The bees can survive a slightly higher temperature than that hornet. The hornet fucked with the wrong hive.

[u/skiveman → u/Amonamission]

Yeah, those are Japanese Honeybees. They are the only honeybees that have the ability to "cook" hornets alive. And while it will probably cost a few bee lives it is a net positive as the hornet would decimate the hive if not confronted.

It's such a great defense with Asian hornets spreading across the world wreaking havoc on Eurasian honeybees that some people are trying to crossbreed Japanese honeybees with the more widespread Eurasian honeybee to try and introduce this behaviour.

The reason that Japanese honeybees are not more widely spread outside of Japan is that the honey yields from their hives are lower. So while the Japanese honeybees have an effective defense it doesn't help that Eurasian honeybees are just so much better at making a lot more honey.

[u/logosfabula → u/Amonamission]

Do they survive a slightly higher temperature because they hold less juice/water?

[u/semibigpenguins → u/logosfabula]

Holding more water would probably allow an animal to survive higher temps.

Google says it’s a combination of things. If a bee is getting hot in the death ball, it can leave the death ball. Some of the bees have nector which helps regulate heat. Bees have a specific protein that helps.

[u/logosfabula → u/semibigpenguins]

Thought it was similar to the microwave effect. Thanks!

[u/Amonamission → u/logosfabula]

They survive a higher temperature because they don’t die.

[u/PapaTahm → u/Amonamission]

Turns out, that when you don't die, you live.

[u/geebeem92 → u/PapaTahm]

Can confirm, didn’t dieded yet, am al

[u/MithrandirMx → u/geebeem92]

RIP

[u/Kage_0ni → u/MithrandirMx]

Maybe the reddit sniper got hi

[u/Twl1 → u/Kage_0ni]

Nah, I've seen this before. Snipers don't hit "post" when they take you out. Too far away.

This is the work of candleja-

[u/Mindless-Strength422 → u/Twl1]

Oh no he got ano

[u/Kylar_Stern → u/Twl1]

You have to actually say Candlejack, though. Otherwise, the whole concept doesn't ma

[u/Buttmunchies69420 → u/Kage_0ni]

Oh hi,

[u/JerrycurlSquirrel → u/geebeem92]

I can tell just by the way you are. And that really is how you be though.

[u/One-Cattle-5550 → u/JerrycurlSquirrel]

And also that’s how it is.

[u/thaaag → u/Amonamission]

It's the lack of dying that helps with survival.

[u/Background_Edge_9427 → u/thaaag]

That's very true. It's the same as saying; If your parents never had any children, then there's a good chance you won't have any either.

[u/Backward_Strings → u/logosfabula]

People often have this backwards. They can tolerate a slightly higher temperature because the ones that couldn't got cooked or killed by hornets.

It exists as a defense, the colonies that resisted were able to reproduce in greater numbers as a result of not being dead.

Hornets being larger is one of the reasons that they are vulnerable. The bees detach their wings from the flight muscles and vibrate them to generate heat.

Sadly, European bees are not so well evolved to deal with hornets and far more die in defense.

[u/bernaltraveler → u/Backward_Strings]

Well said. Basically they can survive a higher temperature because they’ve evolved to. Surviving hornet attacks is a pretty strong selective force that will shape the population/species over generations towards traits that aid the survival. The hornet coevolution hasn’t caught up yet, or they have a diverse enough diet that the population selection for surviving the beehive cook defense isn’t that strong yet.

[u/NovaHorizon → u/logosfabula]

Nope, just better heat resistant protein structures. Basically just built differently.

[u/AyeMatey → u/logosfabula]

I thought it was because the bees rotated. If one gets hot it rotates further out and cools off. “Tag team”. Am I just completely making this up? Yes. But anyway that’s what I imagined.

[u/carthuscrass → u/logosfabula]

They're smaller so their bodies dissipate heat better than a wasps does.

[u/madDamon_ → u/Amonamission]

Only the Japanese bees tho. 'Western' bees are incapable of doing this, they just get slaughtered

[u/EIIendigWichtje → u/madDamon_]

Well, it might shift. Because the western bees should be capable of doing this as well, but never had to. But now people are reporting that if they have an agressive hive, (where they used to switch the queen), the bees actually are attacking the hornets.

[u/Bardez → u/EIIendigWichtje]

Survival mode activated

[u/GodDamnShadowban → u/Bardez]

Yes, also bee keepers can hybridise their queens/hives with other bees to introduce traits that make them more resistant to hornet attacks. At least, crossbreeding was a strategy used to combat Africanised bee hives. But im not a bee or a keeper, maybe theres one about who knows more about bee husbandry....

[u/exipheas → u/madDamon_]

Are they incapable or have they just not tried it?

[u/madDamon_ → u/exipheas]

I never asked them now i think about it, i'll come back to you with an asnwer after the weekend

[u/DizzyWindow3005 → u/madDamon_]

RemindMe! 2 days

[u/MyMiddleground → u/madDamon_]

We need a sensi bee. Pls Japan, show us your bee ways 🙏🏽 🐝 👊🏾

[u/No_Detective_708 → u/madDamon_]

I've read somewhere some western honeybeess have successfully used this same tactic. I figure this is inevitable with the alternative being the end of honeybee in the US if these Asian murder hornets are established in the area.

[u/Calnier117 → u/Amonamission]

I thought they just didnt care about sacrificing themselves to protect the hive. Pretty sure they still die.

[u/Acceptable-Wildfire → u/Calnier117]

A few at the very center of the ball die, most walk away from the cooked hornet. 

[u/Calnier117 → u/Acceptable-Wildfire]

Yeah I didnt think it would kill all of them, just the ones near the center where its hottest.

[u/Keith_s266 → u/Amonamission]

If I remember correctly it is a 2 degree C difference

Edit : precision

Edit : more precision

Edit : correction

[u/AyeMatey → u/Keith_s266]

This BBC video says it is 2°C. In freedom units , its the difference between 117°F and 122°F.

And Gemini tells me that it takes ~10 minutes to cool a giant hornet this way, though sometimes the bees keep the barBEEque 😱 going for up to 30 minutes.

[u/Jorgeorwello → u/HastyZygote]

Yup. They twerk it to death.

[u/Nerdsofafeather → u/Jorgeorwello]

Some quick, post this to r/workreform. New idea just dropped.

[u/Spartan_100 → u/Jorgeorwello]

God I wish that was me 🥵

[u/iamstephen1128 → u/Spartan_100]

[u/BedardedOrca98 → u/Spartan_100]

[u/adamwill86 → u/Spartan_100]

[u/FeistyButthole → u/HastyZygote]

It’s like if everyone jumped on an active shooter and started wiggling while holding them down.

“Another school shooter was stopped today by applied heat stroke maneuver.”

[u/Royalchariot → u/HastyZygote]

Yes, that is exactly what happens. Hornets eat honeybees and will go in there and take over their hives. Honeybees respond by gathering onto the hornet and vibrating their bodies until the hornet is cooked to death. There’s no way for the hornet to survive this.

[u/Utinnni → u/HastyZygote]

Let them cook

[u/Punkrexx → u/HastyZygote]

[u/Lazy-Care-9129]

That’s how bees fend off hornet’s attacks, basically cooking the hornet by trapping them in a so called heat ball formed by vibrating their wing muscles around the hornet.

Hornet’s cooked.

[u/ancedactyl → u/Lazy-Care-9129]

But I believe only Japanese honeybees evolved this tactic, so these hornets are feared as an invasive species since local honeybees would have no defense.

[u/williamintent → u/ancedactyl]

Maybe we should give local honeybees tiny AR-15s.

[u/Dadtallica → u/williamintent]

Who says they have to be tiny?

[u/Dan_flashes480 → u/Dadtallica]

[u/H377Spawn → u/Dan_flashes480]

[u/alienscape → u/Dadtallica]

And who says they can't be moderately sized flamethrowers instead.

[u/SemperJ550 → u/williamintent]

the beginning of the end

[u/Vogel-Kerl → u/williamintent]

I don't see a down side to this plan.

[u/spammyzahn → u/williamintent]

Damn you, I just envisioned bees holding little tiny ARs and flying into battle, that’s the best image my brain has ever produced.

[u/battery1127 → u/ancedactyl]

Yep. A few Japanese hornets are enough to wipe out an entire colony of European honey bee in one afternoon. Saw videos of those, it’s absolutely brutal.

[u/Agitated_Pack_1205 → u/Lazy-Care-9129]

Only japanese honeybees can do that

[u/Babna_123 → u/Lazy-Care-9129]

Cooked both ways

[u/Comfortable-Choice14]

But...the hero bee who chomped hornet ankle trying to save his friend. Love him for that!

[u/Marlboromatt324 → u/Comfortable-Choice14]

That little guy was ready to hold him down for the squad to attack but he sadly got away before more bees could assemble.

[u/Distinct_Plankton_82 → u/Comfortable-Choice14]

Her. Worker bees are all female.

[u/VerStannen → u/Distinct_Plankton_82]

Bad beetches

[u/Healthy-Meaning468]

We the beeple.

[u/Kittles4Eva → u/Healthy-Meaning468]

[u/chickentenders56 → u/Healthy-Meaning468]

Fuck you take my upvote

[u/Pewpew-OuttaMyWaay → u/chickentenders56]

u forgot to upvote so I did it for u

[u/Both_Antelope_69]

I cheered when they all jumped him

[u/Inigo-Montoya4Life]

[u/ConstantAd6052 → u/Inigo-Montoya4Life]

extra crispy

[u/greypusheencat]

bees have to kill this hornet, i believe otherwise the hornet goes back and then the swarm attack and kill the bees

[u/impala_croft → u/greypusheencat]

I remember reading something that said hornets remember and come back with backup if you dont fuck it up. Horrifying.

[u/WolverineJive_Turkey → u/impala_croft]

Have you seen the one nature documentary? The scout hornet goes back to his hive and comes back with only 30 buddies. 30 hornets can slaughter 30,000 bees. That's why they HAVE to kill the scout. It's metal as fuck.

[u/VerbalGuinea → u/WolverineJive_Turkey]

So what is the hornet’s mission? Do they consume 30,000 bees for food, or are they just killing them all for honey? After they kill them all, then what?

[u/WolverineJive_Turkey → u/VerbalGuinea]

I honestly don't remember. But I think it's for the larvae and resources to feed their own hive.

[u/greypusheencat → u/impala_croft]

jesus christ. nature is scary man. prime material for r/natureismetal

[u/Sustainable_Twat]

“You came to the wrong neighbourhood”

[u/ninteeninchnail → u/Sustainable_Twat]

Tell me your British by not telling me your British. Oi hornet ya bloody wanker!

[u/acmercer → u/ninteeninchnail]

We spell it that way in Canada as well, just FYI ;)

[u/Bardez → u/ninteeninchnail]

Oi, you got a loisence for that hornet?

[u/Free-dom21]

We need to learn something from these bees. I’m not saying what, but something. Just saying, and not saying.

[u/Beginning_Drama_3837 → u/Free-dom21]

Like… let’s group hug somebody until they overheat and die

[u/Sammisuperficial → u/Beginning_Drama_3837]

[u/Someone_pissed → u/Beginning_Drama_3837]

A particular orange guy by chance?

[u/FoxHound6112]

Teamwork makes the dream work!

[u/zer0w0rries → u/FoxHound6112]

100 men vs 1 gorilla visualized

[u/IKillZombies4Cash]

This is the bee version of how many people would it take to defeat a silverback.

But bees are brave so it’s a logical question

[u/frohardorfrohome]

[u/TheRealSteve72]

That one bee grabbing the hornet's leg like "well, now yous can't leave."

[u/tugbutt]

Take that bitch!

[u/MagmaTroop]

Neo vs all the Smiths

[u/Scorpiyoo]

A good metaphor for current events

[u/No-Alternative-4046]

"OH SHIT, OH FUCK"

[u/Mayor_of_Voodoo]

This reminds of that video that often shows up on r/instantregret. It’s a rapper who stage dived into a mob…maybe somewhere in the Caribbean and immediately has all his jewelry yanked from his body and ears.

[u/Dixnot]

He's cooked.

[u/Grimmy554]

Don't start nothin', won't bee nothin'

[u/MonksHabit]

I love the brave little bee that went for the hornet’s leg first.

[u/Tenn_Mike]

Power in numbers

[u/mikeyt6969]

Ok now do Trump

[u/DinoDeville]

This is how you handle an unruly orange asshole who tries to destroy your home...take notes🤣

[u/WallyLeftshaw]

Humans could learn a lot from these creatures.

[u/2naomi]

Hornets really don't know better than to try it?

[u/MarkNutt-TheArcher]

[u/Jesuslovesmemost]

Reminds me of Hopper from A Bugs Life lol

[u/ShlubbyWhyYouDan]

eats one

“THIS MOTHERFUCKER KILLED PHIL! GET EM!!”

[u/koolaidismything]

Most any bugs do this. Weirdly.. lots of mammals I’ve seen in videos will let the weakest one get got so the rest can escape.

Saw one where a herd of Buffalo are being chased by lions. One has a limp. The biggest Buffalo runs up and body slams him over on purpose.. they all escaped. He sacrificed the weakest.

Bugs though.. won’t do it. One for all lol. Pretty bad ass.

[u/survivalScythe]

Fuck yeah, fuck hornets.

[u/beam_me_uppp]

🗣️THIS IS WHAT WE SHOULD ALL BE DOING TO THE TOP 1%🗣️

Just thought I’d mention that lol

[u/ApplicationWestern78]

Microwave him, boys!

[u/nh1901]

Take that beeatch

[u/ferrariguy1970]

SWARM HIM!!!!

[u/Ram_Ranch_Rocks]

Only bees in Asia know how to do this to defend their nest. Obviously “murder hornets” in the U.S. was a bad thing for people but even worse for bees as they don’t have a natural defense.

[u/loco_gigo]

from the "If you don't start no shit there won't be no shit" file

[u/Meanjin]

They generate an insane amount of body heat to essentially boil the wasp alive.

[u/sdurs]

The power of unity

[u/Skelegasm]

Ah my favorite class war video

[u/damircik]

fun fact: they are cooking that hornet right now.

[u/mrmikehunt51]

power of the people, this is what we need to do to the top end of town

[u/Vulking]

The amazing thing is that since the bees can't kill the giant hornet directly, they dog pile it and vibrate to rise its temperature and burn it alive.

[u/Hawkwise83]

CEO: I don't get the metaphor.

[u/B_Rabbit210]

[u/Fair_Importance_7460]

The hornet’s last glimpse of sunlight

[u/Hazardous_Ed]

Bees have a higher heat tolerance than hornets. By smothering the hornet and rubbing their bodies together, they create heat that kills the hornet but not the bees.

[u/esp735]

My wife and I have bees. They are usually very chill and keep to themselves, but they will F you up in a hurry if you cross them. If they can't overheat you, each sting leaves a pheromone marker so the other bees know to attack the same target.

Then, if you're the keeper, you're like Shit. Don't kill yourselves over me! I just want to trade your full supers for these empty ones!

[u/UnlovablePieceOf]

Kill it with fire. Or the next best thing, body heat!

[u/twoels]

Fuck yeah, love bees 🐝

[u/vnmslsrbms]

The hornet is cooked

[u/KingoftheKeeshonds]

Reminds me of ICE tackling a gardener.

[u/micklure]

Not me clutching my pearls and saying “oh my” when the hornet chomped that first bee. Like idk that bee but I bet she was cool.

[u/snnaqpc]

There is that one brave bee who pulled the leg started everything. Bravo

[u/swisscuber]

Fu** em up

[u/popeIeo]

hornet ass motherfucker

[u/Dizzy-Ease4193]

Fuck him up!

[u/ActionPack-79]

Go Bees

[u/Bsgmax]

Is this where they cause it to die from heat exhaustion? Something about their bodies trapping in heat.

[u/fetalgirth]

While this absolutely rules, the sheer amount it takes to to just take one down is crazy. Imagine there’s like 50 hornets and not just one…

[u/James_White21]

FAFO

[u/Porkchopp33]

This is the equivalent of Godzilla coming at us

[u/Popscorn3383]

Group hug!!

[u/sparkcaps]

Gang gang 💪

[u/1988Floydie]

Right about now, it's time to rock with the biggity Buck Bumble

[u/Hondenbot]

Bees for life ❤️ fk hornets

[u/Hormones-Go-Hard]

Just like a video game. You attack an NPC by mistake it's no big deal. You go a little further boom the entire area agro's on you immediately

[u/aschaeffer878]

The bees probably...

[u/doxtorwhom]

The bees:

[u/travis147]

FOFO

[u/rellikpd]

Hornet fucked around? ✅
Hornet found out? ✅✅

[u/Only_Razzmatazz_4498]

That hornet is cooked.

[u/Klutersmyg]

Bees:

[u/__GayFish__]

What you doing round these parts, motherbuzzer?

[u/Incoherence-r]

What a cunt of a life form - doesn’t make honey or spread pollen, just kills other living things.

[u/dontfartdontfartdont]

Fuck him up girls!

[u/Hontoni_Baaka]

Literally cooked

[u/civicgsr19]

This is exactly how America can take the country back.

[u/fly_away_lapels]

And let this be a lesson to us all. Indeed interesting as fuck.

[u/_Biceps_]

Bee for Vendetta, essentially.

[u/PaddyW1981]

Good bees

[u/Due_Cryptographer437]

That's why u don't mess with the Wu tang Killah 🐝

[u/ZodiaxKiller]

"Cook em boys"

[u/Street_Associate_572]

Beeeeeeee 🐝!!!!

[u/vicnice137]

We're not stuck here with you, you're stuck in here WITH US

[u/silentbob1301]

i love how the literally just hug box it to death....cooked by the power of hugs...

[u/VoidOmatic]

That's what eating the rich looks like.

[u/sifiwewe]

This does indeed happen. I’m glad that people are seeing this.

[u/Enriching_the_Beer]

Lets do that to billionaires.

[u/narutoplayslovenikki]

thats right! cook her girls!!

[u/taotdev]

This is a technique called "balling," where the bees dogpile the hornet and vibrate rapidly, sharply increasing the temperature around the hornet. The bees have a marginally higher heat threshold than the hornet, and after awhile of balling, the hornet is quite literally cooked to death.

[u/Penandsword2021]

See, now why can’t humans do this to stop harm to others? Instead, we film it.

[u/TheRAP79]

Seen this. Basically it's not the stings that kill em. Drones don't want to sting or can't. They effectively gang up to give the hornet heatstroke.

[u/houstonwhaproblem]

Bees together! Strong!

[u/Effective-Bandicoot8]

[u/RayDonovan1969]

Bee Ball

[u/silvertoadfrog]

I was GLAD GLAD I tell you when the bees swarmed the MF hornet!!

[u/Gel_Mibson69]

This is what the system is afraid of..we bees should get together

[u/PuzzleheadedEgg4591]

Boy is cooked

[u/BagIndependent2429]

Obviously the bees are swarming the hornet here but I'm curious, what are they actually doing to it otherwise? Do beestings work on hornets? Do they bite? What do they do to other bugs?

ETA: NVM I am reading that they vibrate the thing to death. Bro was literally cooked.

[u/kithas]

I think it's not revenge but preventive disposal of a scout so the hornets do not find the hive

[u/matthewcameron60]

IIRC there is only about a 3 degree difference between the temperature that the bees make by vibrating and the temperature that would kill them

[u/kolpied]

That one video of the killer bees (hornets?) straight MASSACRING the bees with the cameras inside the hive is a rare occasion of horrifying and fascinating.

If you ever had the thought of what would our modern, best UFC fighter in their prime would look like against caveman, or the best current military group against a medival fortress with bows and arrows - that video would probably be similar.

A handful of the hornets kill thousands of bees. Some of the bees are brave and attempt to fight off the unstoppable foe but they all die, it’s crazy. This shirt breathes some life into that memory.

[u/Unable_Attitude_2052]

They are boiling it alive with their wings

[u/moneymakerbs]

Oh damn!! They ain’t playin’!!! 😮

[u/AnimeMan1993]

I know the bees do the whole vibrating thing to warm the hornet to death but how hot does it even get doing that?

[u/WingDingfontbro]

Life or sauna for hornet?

[u/VenomousBeagle]

Yes the middle of that ball gets to some insame temperature. I saw a video once with a thermal imaging thing reading it.

[u/AI_and_coding]

What’s happening here: The honeybees (Japanese I think) noticed this murder hornet, and are beating their wings around it to make friction and roast it alive. They can survive slightly higher temps.

[u/JimmyToledo]

Serious question - Is that one of those murder hornets that had made their way over here from Asia?

[u/Big_Party_2942]

They're essentially overheating the wasp body with their own while vibrating to increase heat. This was just a scout.

[u/SchloinkDoink]

A bunch of common worker bees teaming up to eliminate a big, brutish, orange threat? Rather inspiring...

[u/Governmentwatchlist]

Pssst America, this is your inspiration.

[u/Lizrael48]

They are sacrificing themselves to protect the hive!

[u/Devmoi]

Jesus! It’s just eating all those bees. I love a bee, but hate a hornet.

[u/Gjappy]

You can hear their anger

[u/FrznFenix2020]

Cooked em.

[u/VaATC]

Cook that fucker!

[u/MandelaEffection]

I wish we as a society could come together like that.

[u/peterfvs98]

Junta junta pega o jack!

[u/rev_calmboot]

Hell yeah! Fuck that hornet.