30 Hornets against 30000 Bees

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-05-09 09:30pm

Crayz9000 wrote:Are these hornets, or are they yellowjackets? Mind you, I'm talking about two different species here (even if they are somewhat related).

They're hornets (don't know which species) but they seem to have the same MO a lot of related predators have.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2004-05-09 10:03pm

It's like watching the Star Wars Empire crush the Star Trek federation.

Captain Cyran · Post by **Captain Cyran** » 2004-05-09 10:06pm

aerius wrote:It's like watching the Star Wars Empire crush the Star Trek federation.

No it's not. It shows a few Hornets dying.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-05-09 10:08pm

Captain_Cyran wrote:
aerius wrote:It's like watching the Star Wars Empire crush the Star Trek federation.
No it's not. It shows a few Hornets dying.

No it's not. It shows a lot of bees dying.

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2004-05-09 11:19pm

It would be like empire vs federation if the imperial ships sheild generators all blew up at once.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-05-10 12:36am

Stay on topic people. A comparison is good, turning into a technical debate is not.

Companion Cube · Post by **Companion Cube** » 2004-05-10 02:57am

Damn, that was dramatic. And what was with the screaming sfx during the clip?

Crown · Post by **Crown** » 2004-05-10 03:13am

Rye wrote:That's really quite cool. I seem to remember there's a species of bee that's found a really great tactic for fighting hornets; essentially, several bees flock on one hornet at once, and starts buzzing, the bees heat up and their heat tolerance is like a degree or 2 higher than that of the hornets, and the hornets die.

Correct. That would be the Japanese Honey Bee, which unlike it's European cousins, doesn't try and drive the Hornets away from the colony by fighting outside, but when a Hornet attack is coming, all the bee's essentially retreat inside the hive, and then just pounce on the Hornets when they come in, litteraly cooking them alive.

Unfortuantely, while the Japanese Honey Bee has evolved to better defence against the Hornet, they aren't anywhere near as productive as their European cousins, which has led to cross-breading attempts by Japanese bee keepers in order to get a greater productivity out of their hives, but also retain the hives ability to thwart off the Hornet attack.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-05-10 03:23am

Behold the tranquil beauty and harmony of Nature. No wonder people think that a benevolent, loving God designed all of this.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-05-10 03:29am

If anyone else did that, it would be called trolling.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-05-10 03:32am

Howedar wrote:If anyone else did that, it would be called trolling.

Why? Was there some weighty subject of discussion that I disrupted by pointing out how this is an example of the cruelty of nature? The same cruelty which, by the way, inspired Darwin to begin investigating a non-directed mechanism for the origins of species in the 19th century? Is it "trolling" to interject a valid point into an otherwise chatty and insubstantial thread whose sole purpose up till now has been to either spam or mumble "wow, those hornets kick ass"?

Or are you just being pissy because I offended you?

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-05-10 03:38am

I'm not being pissy, just making an observation.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-05-10 03:42am

Howedar wrote:I'm not being pissy, just making an observation.

An "observation" that a valid point was actually "trolling"? I suggest you recheck your English definitions; that's an accusation.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-05-10 03:46am

If you want to continue this, I'd be all for a HoS split. I really don't have any interest, but you seem to be getting pretty pissy about it.

Your call.

*EDIT* I've got a final tomorrow, so if you do do that then don't expect much in the way of responses till Monday night

Dooey Jo · Post by **Dooey Jo** » 2004-05-10 03:52am

That's fucking cool! Like a war. A war that is a one sided massacre...

Thankfully, the hornets we have here are a lot smaller...

And when I read the topic I thought this was going to be some kind of vs. scenario with 30 of those Hornet aircraft vs bees...

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-05-10 03:53am

Howedar wrote:If you want to continue this, I'd be all for a HoS split. I really don't have any interest, but you seem to be getting pretty pissy about it.

For someone who claims not to have any interest, you seem bound and determined to prove that your accusation of trolling and all subsequent posts on that subject are somehow my fault rather than your whininess.

Exmoor Cat · Post by **Exmoor Cat** » 2004-05-10 05:39am

lay off the WTF on my cgi comment already? On my connection some of the hornet shots looked different in terms of graininess of the shots. THat and the purple prose my gcse lecturer would have shot me for gave the whole thing a real artificality.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-05-10 03:11pm

Makes me wonder how African Bees would have faired. They are potentialy nasty enough to make the Hornets leave.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-05-10 03:16pm

Alyeska wrote:Makes me wonder how African Bees would have faired. They are potentialy nasty enough to make the Hornets leave.

As with everything African (or Australian), it's more ferocious. The whole concept of producing the ultimate honey bee by cross breeding the African and European species is what lead to the invasion of "killer bees" in the States. They're quite a problem in some areas I hear, not sure if the project was a success though.

Ted C · Post by **Ted C** » 2004-05-10 03:44pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:
Alyeska wrote:Makes me wonder how African Bees would have faired. They are potentialy nasty enough to make the Hornets leave.
As with everything African (or Australian), it's more ferocious. The whole concept of producing the ultimate honey bee by cross breeding the African and European species is what lead to the invasion of "killer bees" in the States. They're quite a problem in some areas I hear, not sure if the project was a success though.

The "killer bee" problem seems to have diminished substantially over the years. Apparently the African bees have been cross-breeding with native bees as they've progressed northward, becoming less ferocious in the process (there being no honey badgers to drive off on this side of the Atlantic). You never hear about killer bees in the US anymore.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-05-10 04:15pm

Not to continue the evolution tangent which Howedar decries as "trolling"

, but this wholesale slaughter is due largely to the importation of european honey bees into an environment where they are not evolved to deal with natural predators.

Japanese bees have evolved a defense against the giant hornet attacks. Their body temperature is apparently higher than that of the hornets, so 500 bees will swarm a single hornet and literally pile onto it, completely surrounding it. The heat from this agglomeration of bees will literally cook the hornet alive in the centre of the writhing mass, and the bees will largely survive (except for those that are chewed to pieces by the hornet before it dies) because they can tolerate a few degrees higher temperatures than hornets.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-05-10 04:23pm

Another example of an outside context problem would be the influx of rabbits to Australia where, amazingly, no real natural predators existed nor could keep pace with their breeding habits.

Thus, Myxomatosis was introduced to the population and brought numbers down some 95% and over. But soon after, the rabbits started adapting to the virus and the problem persists with literal carpet floors of the animals in farms. Can't shoot them and can't find a decent animal to control them without more problems.

That is why ecosystems mustn't be tampered with too much and why customs agents beat down on you badly if you bring any foreign flora or fauna into a country.

Dooey Jo · Post by **Dooey Jo** » 2004-05-10 04:31pm

I think that is the case with racoons in Germany and other parts of Europe, as well. There are no natural enemies so they're multiplying rapidly.

Sorry for a slightly off-topic question now, but is there any way I can save this clip to disk? (damnit, I hate the jerky nature of streaming video on my dial-up connection

)

Exmoor Cat · Post by **Exmoor Cat** » 2004-05-10 04:33pm

In regard to solving the rabbit population, stop selling Australian lamb and sell this instead -
http://www.fluffybunny.com/recipes.html

Post by **Dalton** » 2004-05-10 04:40pm

Exmoor Cat wrote:In regard to solving the rabbit population, stop selling Australian lamb and sell this instead -
http://www.fluffybunny.com/recipes.html

For some reason I see a beating in your future.