Bumble bees drop to shake off Asian hornets
1–10 of 19 posts
Re: Bumble bees drop to shake off Asian hornets
#2I see the bees are learning jiu-jit-zoo and beating the hornets in the ground game.
Re: Bumble bees drop to shake off Asian hornets
#3Note these are not the same as "murder hornets" (Vespa mandarinia) we heard about often in the news back during the pandemic, these are a close cousin called Vespa Velutina.
Re: Bumble bees drop to shake off Asian hornets
#4Asian honeybees have developed a defensive strategy of mobbing attacking Asian hornets in a ball and vibrating their wing muscles to increase the temperature and eventually kill the hornet by overheating it. I assume this also kills a number of the colony's honeybees as well, but European bees have learned no similar defense and a single hornet can decimate a whole colony.
Re: Bumble bees drop to shake off Asian hornets
#5[dead]
Re: Bumble bees drop to shake off Asian hornets
#6Asian honeybees have developed a defensive strategy of mobbing attacking Asian hornets in a ball and vibrating their wing muscles to increase the temperature and eventually kill the hornet by overheating it. I assume this also kills a number of the colony's honeybees as well, but European bees have learned no similar defense and a single hornet can decimate a whole colony.
Does this only work in the hive? Or is the heat concentrated enough even out in the open?
Re: Bumble bees drop to shake off Asian hornets
#7Note these are not the same as "murder hornets" (Vespa mandarinia) we heard about often in the news back during the pandemic, these are a close cousin called Vespa Velutina.
Murder hornets are Asian _giant_ hornets.
"Since its discovery in North America, the scientific literature and official government sources refer to this species by its established common name, Asian giant hornet, whilst the mainstream media have taken to using the nickname "murder hornet".[23][24][25] In July 2022, the Entomological Society of America stated that they will adopt the common name northern giant hornet for the species to avoid potentially discriminatory language, citing the rise in anti-Asian sentiment and hate crimes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic."
Re: Bumble bees drop to shake off Asian hornets
#8Asian honeybees have developed a defensive strategy of mobbing attacking Asian hornets in a ball and vibrating their wing muscles to increase the temperature and eventually kill the hornet by overheating it. I assume this also kills a number of the colony's honeybees as well, but European bees have learned no similar defense and a single hornet can decimate a whole colony.
Does this only work in the hive? Or is the heat concentrated enough even out in the open?
It seems to work even out in the open. This video shows some thermal camera imagery of it: https://youtu.be/euMNIu9a7ps?t=312
Re: Bumble bees drop to shake off Asian hornets
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does this only work in the hive? Or is the heat concentrated enough even out in the open?
It seems to work even out in the open. This video shows some thermal camera imagery of it: https://youtu.be/euMNIu9a7ps?t=312
Ah interesting. And it looks like it then doesn't kill the colony's honeybees, since they can withstand a higher temperature than the hornet.
Re: Bumble bees drop to shake off Asian hornets
#10Note these are not the same as "murder hornets" (Vespa mandarinia) we heard about often in the news back during the pandemic, these are a close cousin called Vespa Velutina.
Murder hornets are Asian _giant_ hornets. "Since its discovery in North America, the scientific literature and official government sources refer to this species by its established common name, Asian giant hornet, whilst the mainstream media have taken to using the nickname "murder hornet".[23][24][25] In July 2022, the Entomological Society of America stated that they will adopt the common name northern giant hornet…
What’s the status of these in NA?
The searches I’ve done suggest the known nests were eradicated. I understand there’s a good chance there were probably a few went unnoticed, but i have my hopes.