Bees "Scream" When Murder Hornet Cousins Attack

Live Science

Asian honey bees rally against giant hornet invasions with an acoustic response that resembles the alarm shrieks of birds, primates and other social mammals.

Transcript

00:00 (hornet buzzing)

00:02 When giant cousins of murder hornets attack Asian honeybees,

00:09 the bees raise an alarm similar to the panicked calls

00:12 of birds and mammals.

00:13 Giant hornets are a sister species

00:16 to so-called murder hornets.

00:19 They're one of the deadliest predators of Asian honeybees,

00:21 attacking in groups until they overwhelm a colony.

00:25 Scientists recently recorded and analyzed alarm sounds

00:28 made by honeybees during hornet attacks.

00:30 (hornet buzzing)

00:33 They found that when a giant hornet shows up,

00:42 the bees made a lot more noise.

00:44 (hornet buzzing)

00:47 (hornet buzzing)

01:16 Giant hornets are the biggest threat to Asian honeybees.

01:19 Just one attack can wipe out an entire colony.

01:23 This could explain why bees have evolved

01:25 to have a special signal for a giant hornet attack.

01:28 (dramatic music)

01:31 (wind whooshing)

01:33 (wind whooshing)

01:36 (wind whooshing)

01:39 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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