Giant hornets are the largest wasps in the world.
They are commonly called "Yak Killer" because of their powerful stinger.
They are the bane of a bee's existence.
The misfortune of a beehive occurs when a hornet discovers it and marks it with a scent. It sprays a chemical compound on the hive, which it uses to guide its nestmates. It then returns with this special scent to its nestmates, indicating the direction to follow.
Then, a few dozen more hornets arrive at the beehive and all hell breaks loose. You'd think that with thousands and thousands of bees, they'd have a chance of fighting back, but not so much.
Things quickly escalate and become unpleasant. Hornets are virtually immune to bee stings (although enough stings will weaken a giant hornet).
Watching this unfold on video, you'll probably side with the bees: "Sting them! Bite their wings!"
But these hornets seem to be getting rid of all the bees, and their mandibles quickly slice off the bees' heads, tearing them off like scissors through paper. The bees are completely overwhelmed.
Giant hornets can kill 30 to 40 bees per minute. Bee heads, legs, wings, and bodies are scattered everywhere.
Then they clean the nest and eat the larvae and honey that are inside.
More.
There is one breed that has managed to counter this phenomenon.
Asian honeybees will know when the hornet appears in their nest. They will deliberately let it approach without reacting. Then, it approaches them and begins to mark the hive with its scent, which it will later carry back to the hornet's nest.
As soon as the hornet gets close, they jump on it:
Then they swarm and wrap themselves all around.
The hornet eventually disappears and is no longer visible. In the middle of the crowd, the giant hornet scatters, trying to escape. But other layers of bees begin to multiply.
While they are around him, the bees begin to vibrate. As they vibrate, he begins to heat the mass upwards in the middle.
The hornet pictured above is in the middle of this crowd. The hornet's maximum temperature is 115°C, while honeybees can tolerate up to 118°C.
Then they heat this central area to 116°, and keep it at this temperature (sometimes for hours), killing the hornet little by little.
This prevents it from returning to its nest with directions, thus saving the Hive.
This remarkably precise teamwork allows them to maintain the temperature just below their upper limit and just above that of the hornets. The Asian honeybees have found the right solution.