Honeybees use animal dung to ward off deadly giant hornet attacks, scientists discover msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Dec. 9, 2020 , 6:35 PM
Giant hornets, which were detected in North America for the first time last year, can devastate colonies of the most common type of honey bee. But in Asia, where the fearsome predators are native, honey bees mount a vigorous defense with intimidating behaviors and coordinated counterstrikes. Now, researchers have discovered that Asian bees employ another, surprising defense strategy: To repel hornets, they daub their hives with the feces of other animals, which some scientists consider a form of tool use.
“For a bee to do that is incredible,” says Susan Cobey, a bee biologist at Washington State University, Pullman, who was not involved. “It just floored me.” It’s hardly the behavior you’d expect from a social insect famous for hygiene, says Heather Mattila, a behavioral ecologist at Wellesley College, who led the new research. “The thought of honey bees walking around in feces is just shocking,” she says. Bees work hard to keep their hives cl
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Sputnik International
Giant hornets, who are four to five times bigger than honey bees, are well-armoured killing machines with a venomous sting and powerful mandibles for crushing, dismembering and chewing prey.