Bees use buffalo manure as a weapon against Horners
Asian hornets (Vespa soror) are notorious for their attacks on beehives. They kill the bees, steal their larvae and use them as food for their own breeding. The bees don't just let themselves be led to the slaughter. For example, biologs1 in Vietnam discovered that honey bees collect manure from buffalo and lubricate it at the entrance of their hive or cupboard. Successfully, because the smell effectively scare off the aggressive attackers. 'It's a unique find. This has demonstrated for the first time that insects make and use tools,” says researcher Gard Ortis at the University of Guelph in Canada.
A swarm of Asian hornets is attacking a beehive. Earlier, scientists discovered other tricks that bees use to defend themselves against enemies. In this way, the insects gather massively around and on top of a hornet. By vibrating with their bodies, the temperature of the hornet rises to almost 50 degrees and is cooked as it were. Furthermore, honey bees can warn the rest of their colony that an Asian hornet is coming by wobbling their hind bodies. The hornet then fears that death from overheating threatens and flees away.
How do we save the bee?
In a world without bees, we are starving. Three quarters of our food crops depend on pollination by insects, including bees. The fact that the bee is bad is therefore very disturbing. Biologist and bee expert Dirk De Graaf of Ghent University talks extensively about what exactly is going on, and how we can save the bee.
