Bees and the defense of the hive

bees are very cooperative insects, and their strength is certainly based on solid cohesion and inimitable teamwork. The defense of the hive is an important factor in which bees have developed increasingly efficient and organized methods to chase away predators . It is important to emphasize, however, that in recent years, bees have had to face many new challenges such as the arrival of new aggressors including the vespa velutina and the mandarinia. These species have put their survival skills to the test. Let's find out together how bees protect the hive and what their defense weapons are.

How bees defend themselves from predators

To defend themselves from predators , bees certainly use their weapon par excellence, the sting . It is extremely important because it allows bees to effectively attack enemies, literally stabbing the attacker and then killing him. The sting of the worker bees is slightly curved and has small serrations that make it much more effective for defense. The bees therefore protect themselves from enemies by simply stabbing them and then, by retracting their sting inside the body, they can use it again.

In the case of humans, however, bees do not survive after being stung because our elastic skin does not allow them to retract the sting that remains stuck in our epidermis together with a part of their internal organs. However, when bees attack other insects, this does not happen since the exoskeleton of the latter allows them to regularly extract the stinger.

A curiosity that not everyone knows is that the threats looming over the hive cannot all be countered with the same tool, depending on the enemy and the type of attack , the swarm uses different defense methods.

The aggressiveness of bees varies greatly depending on the type of family, the external climatic conditions and the place where the bee is located. In fact, near the entrance to the hive there are guardian bees , which patrol the door and prevent intruders from entering it.

Enemies of bees

Among the enemies of bees we find not only small animals such as other insects and wasps but also birds, mammals and reptiles. The life of bees is always exposed to innumerable risks.

There are numerous insectivorous birds that feed on bees. An example are swallows and blackbirds. These animals can be very dangerous for bees, especially for the queen bee at the moment of the fertilization flight. Other animals such as small mammals can also be a danger. Just think of the hedgehog who is greedy not only for honey bees but also for bees themselves. Some reptiles or amphibians such as lizards and toads are just as enemies of bees as they are predators. Fortunately, however, they only feed on elderly or sick bees that fall on the grass during the flight.

Let's not forget to add spiders to the list. Some of them are really clever because they lend themselves to weaving the webs near the beehive in the hope of blocking a bee during its flight.

The threats to bees, however, are not only constituted by other animals but above all by diseases and pollutants that weaken them greatly. Intensive agriculture and the harmful behavior of man towards nature have caused many problems.

Let's not forget the varroa which is by far the number one danger of bees. It is a particular parasite responsible for the premature death of many bees. Varroa is easily extensible to the whole swarm and this type of mite settles in the cells of bees , feeds on the larvae of the latter and then continues its work as a parasite even in the adult phase. Here, the mite feeds on the sap of bees causing their death.

The swarm's secret weapon

As much as the guardian bees try to take care of the external defense , it may happen that predators manage to penetrate inside the hive and this is where the real challenge begins. In these cases the internal defense is very different. In fact, the swarm has a real secret weapon which consists of a strong group attack . When an enemy enters the hive, bees cover it in large numbers and remain on it until they suffocate it.

Initially, the defense method used by bees was to heat the predator's body up to a temperature of 44 degrees. Due to the arrival of new predators as in the case of particular wasps, the bees had to adapt to a new method of defense. In fact, some wasps can resist up to 50 degrees! In this case, therefore, the swarm works to suffocate the aggressor and no longer through body heating. In this case, death is slower and requires the bees much more effort to be able to chase away the danger.

The strong teamwork of the hive

The swarm is participating in a very strong work of cohesion without which its survival would not be possible. The key role is always that of queen bees but it is also important to recognize the importance of bees' sociability and their excellent predisposition to work in groups. The more families are numerous, the stronger they are.

How to help the bees

The life of bees only lasts 42 grueling days. As their numbers have been decreasing considerably over the years, it is very important to preserve the conservation of these wonderful animals. There are many projects set in motion to address this issue. In particular, beekeepers are working hard to help the bees especially by building traps for the more aggressive and non-native predators such as the vespa velutina and the Asian hornet .

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