Badass Buddha Bees

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Bees Kill A Giant Hornet With Heat | Buddha Bees and The Giant Hornet Queen

Natural World: Buddha Bees and The Giant Hornet Queen It’s springtime on Honshu Island, and a queen stirs from hibernation. She alone has the ability to create an empire of winged killers, one that will last all summer long. She is a Japanese giant hornet: the largest wasp on the planet. Armed with razor-sharp jaws, thick armour plating, and a lethal half-inch stinger, these hornets have but one mission: to spread their majesty’s reign to the whole countryside. Is there nothing that can stop this murderous horde? Or will the giant monsters destroy all who stand in their way, man and insect alike?

5 Points
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This happens naturally with honey bees, they sometimes kill their own queen.

In certain circumstances worker bees crowd round and enclose the queen. This is believed to be a panicky attempt to protect her. It is liable to occur if the queen is frightened. It is most likely to occur during or following manipulation in the spring in poor weather when stores are short, in small lots, and during robbing; in other words, in time of stress and at times when the queen could not be replaced by the bees. Old bees, long queenless, are liable to ball a new queen on introduction, or a virgin queen on her return to the hive.

When balling, the bees form a ball with the queen at the centre. Balling is accompanied by a distinctive hissing sound in the note of the colony. The ball will become tighter if the operator endeavours to break it by hand or by the application of smoke, and the queen will probably be damaged or even suffocated. If balling is seen, close the hive at once, if practicable, and await more favourable circumstances. The ball can be broken up by dipping in water, but the queen should then be caged for a time, and the condition of the stock seen to.

To avoid balling make the minimum of disturbance in the spring, making any necessary full examination when honey is coming in or after feeding, and stop if, signs of balling, occur. The more excitable dark races are the most likely to ball their queen.

4 Points