The Cruel Fate That Awaits a Hornet Queen

[MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: As the weather grows colder and wetter, the hornets embark on some home improvements to their nest ahead of winter, reducing the size of their front door to prevent heat loss. But they are doomed. Unlike their cousins, the honeybees, neither their colony nor their nest are designed to stockpile supplies and keep them warm during the cold winter months. In the nest, significantly fewer workers are now active. But there's still a gruesome job to do. They drag live larvae from their cells and dump them outside the nest to die. They no longer need new workers. Outside, the larval cemetery grows. They've even stopped feeding their queen. After giving birth to this colony, she's starved out of her own kingdom and dies after only a year of life. A lucky few larvae still receive food. They're the only ones left in the colony who have a chance to survive as next year's queens.

Channel: Smithsonian Channel

Views: 4,023,972

Rating: 4.8767953 out of 5

Keywords: winter, watch, TV online, starve, worker, bee, spring, Facts, nature, generation, Prey, honey, predator, supplies, Documentary, sugar, channel, stream TV, cell, survival, energy, fruit, larva, video, Episodes, free tv, hornet, cemetary, colony, smithsonian, cruel, stockpile, free videos, summer, queen

Id: NcgjKdq8yQ8

Length: 2min 8sec (128 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 23 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/DrChang]

You expect me to feel sorry for a hornet?

[u/blankethordes]

Whelp found another YouTube rabbit hole