WITHIN NATURE’S INTRICATE WEB OF CHECKS AND BALANCES … THERE IS A PLACE FOR ‘PAY BACK’.
These too are honeybees. they made their hive in a hollow tree.
they too are caring for their young.
but these are native japanese honeybees. and they are not quite as defenseless as their european cousins.
THEY haVE EVOLVED A SECRET WEAPON AGAINST THE GIANT HORNET.
one they may meet often in this deadly season.
this hornet is the advanced guard of an attack force the bees could never withstand.
but this time THE BEES SET A trap. they want the hornet inside. and the hornet obliges.
The SCOUTs main task IS TO MARK THE SPOT WITH A telltale pheromone … SO THAT her sisters CAN FIND IT LATER.
But the native honeybees know her game.
By swinging their abdomens to and fro they signal their strategy to one another.
the bees hold off until the last possible moment. and then, as if of one mind, they swarm.
the hornet is engulfed by hundreds of bees.
but they don’t sting the intruder. instead, as revealed by thermal photography, they all begin to vibrate, gradually raising their collective temperature to 117 degrees Fahrenheit.
Japanese honeybees can tolerate a temperature of 118 degrees.
Their victim's upper limit is 115. The hornet scout is slowly roasted alive.
And the secret of the honeybees' location dies with her
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/...bees_vs_hornet