https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-12/uog-hbf120720.php
News Release 9-Dec-2020
University of Guelph
What's the best way to ward off giant hornets if you're a honeybee? Animal dung, according to a first-ever University of Guelph study.
U of G researchers have discovered honeybees in Vietnam collect and apply spots of animal dung around hive entrances to deter deadly nest raids by an Asian hornet (Vespa soror) whose North American cousins have been dubbed "murder hornets."
This finding is also the first to document the use of tools by honeybees.
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The hornets spent less than half as much time at nest entrances with moderate to heavy dung spotting as they did at hives with few spots, and they spent only one-tenth as much time chewing at the hive entrances to get at the bees' brood. They were also less likely to launch mass attacks on the more heavily spotted hives.
The researchers are unsure just what deters the hornets, although they suspect the insects are repelled by the smell of the dung. Dung may also mask odours emitted by the bees.
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