A team of environmental specialists at the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Japan has discovered that Japanese honeybees slap invading ants with their wings to prevent them from entering their nests. This new defensive behavior was observed and analyzed using high-speed cameras, with findings published in the journal *Ecology*.
Japanese honeybees, also known as Asian honeybees, employ various tactics to guard their nests. . They can also form heat balls to kill intruders and even build walls made of animal feces to deter pests and predators.
In this study, researchers Yugo Seko, Kiyohito Morii, and Yoshiko Sakamoto found that the bees also repel small invaders like ants by slapping them with one or both wings. High-speed footage revealed that guard bees would approach ants with increased speed, lean back, twist, and deliver a powerful slap, sending the ants flying off the nest.
While wing slapping wasn’t always successful, with some ants freezing in confusion or the bees missing their target, it proved effective in many instances. The researchers noted that this method is less energy-intensive than wing flapping.
The study also found that the bees were less successful in slapping larger ants, suggesting that wing slapping is primarily effective against smaller invaders.
