For bee keepers

Originally Posted by ffhdriver
When a "killer hornet" invades a hive, why can't the bees sting it to death before it destroys the hive ?


Why not make a smaller wide slit opening so "the big boy" can't fit in, and the small bees can fly right in.
 
Bees sting as a last resort. When a bee stings you, the barbs in the stinger keep it inside the victim and when the bee flies away, the stinger and vital organ(s) stay with the stinger so the bee dies.

I guess if the end result is the same, it would be worth the bee's life to save the hive, but I don't think they can reason that way.

And then there are the Japanese bees that surround the murder hornet and cook it to death...

It's amazing how the upper limit of the hornet's ability to tolerate the heat and the bee's upper limit mesh so that the bees can kill it without killing themselves,
 
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Originally Posted by opus1
Bees sting as a last resort. When a bee stings you, the barbs in the stinger keep it inside the victim and when the bee flies away, the stinger and vital organ(s) stay with the stinger so the bee dies.

I guess if the end result is the same, it would be worth the bee's life to save the hive, but I don't think they can reason that way.

For mammals and other animals with skin, but that's not correct when they are defending the hive against other arthropods, correct?
 
Originally Posted by kschachn
Originally Posted by opus1
Bees sting as a last resort. When a bee stings you, the barbs in the stinger keep it inside the victim and when the bee flies away, the stinger and vital organ(s) stay with the stinger so the bee dies.

I guess if the end result is the same, it would be worth the bee's life to save the hive, but I don't think they can reason that way.

For mammals and other animals with skin, but that's not correct when they are defending the hive against other arthropods, correct?


Good question. Then again, you may have answered the OP's question - if they can't penetrate the exoskeleton, then it's useless for them to try to sting the invader.
 
They get sting in the joints between the body parts. The guard bees do attack and sting intruders but why that isn't the defense with these hornets I do not know.
 
Try to precisely poke something with your posterior. It's isn't happening, too hard for them to find a soft spot they can penetrate.
 
Originally Posted by Dave9
Try to precisely poke something with your posterior. It's isn't happening, too hard for them to find a soft spot they can penetrate.


You need a better grasp of the animal kingdom. Animals can do amazing and precise movements with all sorts of different/odd body parts (including humans). I don't think this is a legit reason...
 
Originally Posted by Dave9
Try to precisely poke something with your posterior. It's isn't happening, too hard for them to find a soft spot they can penetrate.

That's what bees do. You can't squirt a noxious liquid out of glands on your posterior into the eyes of an attacker either, but that's what skunks do.
 
One giant hornet is capable of killing about 1,000 bees. They are killing machines and impervious to the stings of a honeybee. Fifty giant hornets can decimate a bee hive in about an hour. I kept bees for 10 years and fortunately never had to deal with it in my area.
 
Originally Posted by opus1
Bees sting as a last resort. When a bee stings you, the barbs in the stinger keep it inside the victim and when the bee flies away, the stinger and vital organ(s) stay with the stinger so the bee dies.

I guess if the end result is the same, it would be worth the bee's life to save the hive, but I don't think they can reason that way.

And then there are the Japanese bees that surround the murder hornet and cook it to death...

It's amazing how the upper limit of the hornet's ability to tolerate the heat and the bee's upper limit mesh so that the bees can kill it without killing themselves,



I'm waiting to hear how these Giant Hornets from Japan fare against Africanized bees.
 
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Originally Posted by opus1


And then there are the Japanese bees that surround the murder hornet and cook it to death...

It's amazing how the upper limit of the hornet's ability to tolerate the heat and the bee's upper limit mesh so that the bees can kill it without killing themselves,


Unfortunately for the bees, this only works if they can lure the scout Giant Asian Wasp (the name "Murder Hornet" is a new title used to sell headlines) into their hive and surround it before pheromones are released. It doesn't work if the scout gets away and brings back other wasps.
 
Originally Posted by walterjay
One giant hornet is capable of killing about 1,000 bees. They are killing machines and impervious to the stings of a honeybee. Fifty giant hornets can decimate a bee hive in about an hour. I kept bees for 10 years and fortunately never had to deal with it in my area.

Decimate root word decimal ,,10%
 
Originally Posted by walterjay
. I kept bees for 10 years and fortunately never had to deal with it in my area.


Why did you stop?
 
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
I'm waiting to hear how these Giant Hornets from Japan fare against Africanized bees.

Japan vs Africa
I'd love to see that battle!
cheers3.gif
 
I kept bees for 7 years. I stopped because I got tired of losing hives every year. One day everything is fine and the next day an "empty" hive. I got up to 8 hives at one time and got tired of buying nukes every year. I was paying $10-15 for just one queen.

There were 2 older people who came by to get bee stings in their joints every few weeks. One knees and other elbow. Pretty cool.
 
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Originally Posted by Gebo
I kept bees for 7 years. I stopped because I got tired of losing hives every year. One day everything is fine and the next day an "empty" hive. I got up to 8 hives at one time and got tired of buying nukes every year. I was paying $10-15 for just one queen.

There were 2 older people who came by to get bee stings in their joints every few weeks. One knees and other elbow. Pretty cool.


Empty as in all dead or did they vacate?
 
Vacate. They said mites would infect colonies and the workers (females) would fly out and not have the strength to make it back
 
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted by walterjay
. I kept bees for 10 years and fortunately never had to deal with it in my area.


Why did you stop?

I was tired of medicating bees and trying to keep them healthy. Also, there seemed to be a limited amount of nectar available in my area. The last year I kept them I was down to two bee hives. When I inspected them in the spring, a rat had gotten into one hive and was living in the bottom. The other hive was weak. I was done putting time and money into what should have been an enjoyable hobby.
Years ago bees were able to take care of themselves...not any more. Quite sad.
 
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