Working hard in their hive in a temple garden situated in the mountains of Japan on Honshu Island, juvenile bees are tending to the housekeeping, while the queen bee faces the immeasurable task of laying enough eggs to ensure the health and future of the colony.
“Seasons change fast up here in the mountains and when autumn arrives there are far fewer insects around this means my hives are even more vulnerable to attack. For me it's an anxious time,” says a worried Yamaguchi, a monk and bee keeper who features in the BBC Natural World programme, Buddha, Bees, and the Giant Hornet Queen.
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Japanese bees produce less honey than European bees, but the taste is unique due to Japan’s rich and diverse flora - and while delicious - this leaves them vulnerable to attacks.
In springtime, the Japanese giant hornet queen - the largest wasp on the planet - stirs from hibernation. Armed with razor-sharp jaws, a lethal half-inch stinger and heavy armour plating, before such a terrifying Queendom, what enemy could possibly remain?
Unable to cope with high temperatures, the hornets protect their Queen by excavating over a ton of earth from the nest, so a steady flow of fresh air can enter and keep them cool.
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Searching for food, a scout hornet discovers Yamaguchi’s bees as the bees send out an alarmed pheromone to alert the hive of its presence.
The bees remain calm and do not attack, instead, in what seems a suicide move, they lure the hornet inside the hive. When one of their own is taken by the hornet, the bees do something extraordinary.
They vibrate their bodies to create heat, and with the hornet at the center of the rapidly heating circle of bees - which can withstand temperatures of 46 degrees celsius - the invading hornet is quickly roasted to perfection.
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The wild Japanese bees have spent millions of years living alongside their otherwise unstoppable enemy, and they alone have developed this extraordinary survival strategy.
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