Asian Honey Bee: a two-minute wildlife lesson
When a giant hornet invades, about 500 bees pile around it and buzz their flight muscles to heat the ball to 47 °C, just below what they can bear.
Bees and Wasps · day 3 of 7
Five facts
- When a giant hornet invades, about 500 bees pile around it and buzz their flight muscles to heat the ball to 47 °C, just below what they can bear.
- A 2020 study in Vietnam found these bees smear animal dung around their hive to fend off raiding hornets.
- It grooms itself with great care. This habit keeps Varroa mites from wrecking its colonies, unlike in the western honey bee.
- When flowers run short, the whole colony may move out: the bees fill up on stored honey and fly off to build a new nest elsewhere.
- Its colonies are small, with around 6,000 to 7,000 workers. Western honey bee colonies can reach 50,000 or more.
The quiz
1. How do Asian honey bees deal with an invading giant hornet?
- They flee the hive for good
- They surround it in a ball and heat it up (correct)
- They seal it in wax
- They ignore it
About 500 bees surround the hornet and vibrate their muscles to raise the heat to 47 °C.
2. According to a 2020 study in Vietnam, what do these bees use to keep hornets away?
- Animal dung (correct)
- Spider silk
- Crushed flowers
- Tree sap only
The study found they use feces to defend their hives against hornet raids.
3. What helps the Asian honey bee resist Varroa mites?
- Living underground
- Its very thick wax
- Careful grooming (correct)
- Flying only at night
It grooms more carefully than the western honey bee, which keeps the mites from devastating colonies.
4. What does a colony often do when pollen and nectar run short?
- It sleeps until spring
- It steals from ant nests
- It eats its wax
- It leaves and builds a new nest elsewhere (correct)
The bees fill their honey stomachs and swarm off to set up a new nest where food is plentiful.
5. About how many workers live in an Asian honey bee colony?
- About 60
- About 600
- About 6,000 to 7,000 (correct)
- About 500,000
Colonies are relatively small, with around 6,000 to 7,000 workers.
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