If there’s one animal that we could always count on to die needlessly for their cause, it was bees. Mind you, reports of their death had been greatly exaggerated, but that’s okay, as they’re simply the kamikazes of the animal world. Sure, some people have developed genetic imperfections that allow them to be hurt more by bees, but in the end, once a bee stings you, it’s dead.
We might need to rethink our plans. Scientists have discovered bees that use more than just their stingers to defeat potential attackers. Apparently, they’re perfectly prepared to mummify enemies who can’t be stung. The old adage of “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger” seems to be a foreign concept to the insects, but they do seem to be fans of “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
It’s now being reported that researchers from the Swiss Bee Research Centre in Bern have discovered a species of bee-the Australian stingless bee ably called Trigona Carbonaria-that has developed a previously unseen way to ward off attackers. The team tested their theory by releasing small hive beetles at the mouth of a beehive. The results were highly disturbing.
Faced with such a resilient foe, a group of workers resorted to coating the beetles in a sticky mix of resin, mud and wax. From computerised tomography (CT) scans of hives flash-frozen at 5-minute intervals, Greco’s team found the mummifications take less than 10 minutes.
The beetles rarely got very far from the entrance before being mummified. The only time Greco saw the beetle invasions succeed was during a hot Australian summer, when temperatures above 40 °C may have stressed the bee colony and prevented the resin from setting.
Ye gods. This is incredibly unsettling. One bee is avoidable, but imagine an entire colony working together to mummify a human being. Don’t think they’re not planning to! What’s also terrifying is that the only way to prevent this from happening, according to the research, is to set the planet ablaze in order to throw off the colony. Great, the Scorched Earth technique taken to an inferno level, and we’re still on the Earth.