Those are some neat photos you snapped! I heard a few years ago about a defense that some bees have against hornets: apparently they have a higher tolerance for heat than hornets and will form a vibrating ball around the hornet and cook them to death!
link: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE1DA173AF933A25753C1A963958260
zenalpinist - May 4, 2008 9:38 pm - Hasn't voted
The secret...?...to the worldwide disappearance of Bee's? All joking aside, who knows, could they could be partly responsible.
Fantastic photos BTW!
tleaf - May 4, 2008 11:33 pm - Voted 10/10
Nice story!I was in Crete almost 20 years ago when I was stung by a large bee, thank goodness not this hornet!
Curt - May 5, 2008 10:13 am - Hasn't voted
This reminds me......of a pretty cool National Geographic video I saw of hornets attacking a beehive in Japan. YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4wRIERp6Vs
Excellent photos and article. Watching predator/prey relationships play out is one of the most fascinating aspects of spending time outdoors.
BeDrinkable - May 5, 2008 1:54 pm - Hasn't voted
interesting.Those are some neat photos you snapped! I heard a few years ago about a defense that some bees have against hornets: apparently they have a higher tolerance for heat than hornets and will form a vibrating ball around the hornet and cook them to death!
link: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE1DA173AF933A25753C1A963958260
MoapaPk - May 5, 2008 6:50 pm - Voted 10/10
tit 4 tatbees kill hornet
All you have to know is "caliente".
tigerlilly - May 8, 2008 12:51 pm - Hasn't voted
Good JobYou caught my attention and held it. Not an easy thing to do!
Nice writing & photos. Thanks for sharing your interesting discovery!
colint - May 8, 2008 6:51 pm - Hasn't voted
fantastic post!Did you check the hives to see that your initial guess, that the bees were less active mid-day, was wrong? Are both species native to Crete?
Judd97 - May 18, 2008 8:34 pm - Hasn't voted
Cool!Cool photography! Almost reminds me of the Cicada Killers we have here in PA:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada_killer_wasp