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

00:00When giant cousins of murder hornets attack Asian honeybees, the bees raise an alarm similar

00:10to the panicked calls of birds and mammals.

00:15Giant hornets are a sister species to so-called murder hornets.

00:19They're one of the deadliest predators of Asian honeybees, attacking in groups until

00:23they overwhelm a colony.

00:25Scientists recently recorded and analyzed alarm sounds made by honeybees during hornet

00:30attacks.

00:41They found that when a giant hornet shows up, the bees made a lot more noise.

00:57Giant hornets are the biggest threat to Asian honeybees.

01:20Just one attack can wipe out an entire colony.

01:23This could explain why bees have evolved to have a special signal for a giant hornet

01:27attack.

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