Giant Asian hornets attack honeybee hive

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]Japanese honeybee's.

[00:00:07]These furry little forest dwellers are also working around the clock to nurture their hive.

[00:00:16]Beneath the cool mossy exterior of their fortress, their own empire is expanding.

[00:00:29]During the summer months, worker bees tirelessly produce honey for their hive.

[00:00:35]They spend their days collecting nectar, visiting up to 100 flowers per foraging trip.

[00:00:46]They regurgitate the honey into cells in the honeycomb.

[00:00:51]Here, it is stored as their food source over the long months of winter when the nectar is scarce.

[00:00:59]The dedicated workers only live for 6 weeks.

[00:01:05]As they die, new workers hatch to replace them.

[00:01:16]These sticky infants are the next generation of honey producers in the hive.

[00:01:30]Their teamwork has produced a thriving colony, and it's a treasure chest just waiting to be plundered.

[00:01:42]For a foraging bamboo giant, a beehive is the land of protein and honey.

[00:01:51]If they can get to the larvae, it will fuel their entire army.

[00:01:57]Bees are their favorite prey.

[00:02:02]The bamboo giants weigh 20 times more than their honeybee prey.

[00:02:09]And this handful of hornets can wipe out tens of thousands of bees in a matter of hours.

[00:02:20]They've hit the jackpot.

[00:02:58]There's an enemy in their midst.

[00:03:02]But these bees have hatched a battle plan.

[00:03:06]This isn't their first rodeo.

[00:03:19]Working in groups, the bees overwhelm the hornet, biting and stinging her repeatedly.

[00:03:42]They disperse a pheromone, which alerts the rest of the hive and calls in fresh recruits.

[00:03:54]>> Clusters of bees mob the hornet and block the breathing holes on her abdomen.

[00:04:04]Their aim is to heat up her temperature beyond her thermal limit.

[00:04:12]Inside the bee ball, it's 46°.

[00:04:16]And the smothered hornet is quickly overheating.

[00:04:32]Bees on the outskirts form body chains holding the bee ball in place like guide ropes.

[00:04:42]There's no room for the weakest link here.

[00:05:06]The giant gives up her brave fight.

[00:05:11]Defeated by a tiny bee 1/5 of her size.

[00:05:16]But insurmountable as a united force.

[00:05:27]The bamboo scouts won't feed their grubs tonight.

[00:05:37]>> [music]