# Video: 30 wasps kill 30,000 honeybees. Very cool.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-30-wasps-kill-30-000-honeybees-very-cool/250634
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 16, 2004, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-30-wasps-kill-30-000-honeybees-very-cool/250634 "2004-06-16T12:19:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-30-wasps-kill-30-000-honeybees-very-cool/250634/61 "2004-06-19T17:24:51Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#):
>
> I think the big problem is the bees are just sitting there twiddling their palps, going “BZZZZ, BZZZZ, BZZZ, stay away!” If they had ganged up on the hornets, instead of just sitting there like, well, sitting ducks, the hive might have stood a chance. Some of them obviously did, because the narrator mentioned that they took a few hornets with them–just not enough.
are domestic/farmer’s bees capable of defending themselves? i agree with the suspicion that the producers simply unleashed the hornets on the bees for the film. certainly they would have shown dead hornets or brave acts of defence instead of merely mentioning them…
---
### Author:  [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-30-wasps-kill-30-000-honeybees-very-cool/250634/62 "2004-06-19T17:43:12Z")
I’m guessing part of the domestication process removed the bee’s more aggressive tendances so that the farmer wouldn’t get stung (too much) when he goes in to take their precious stash of goods.
---
### Author:  [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-30-wasps-kill-30-000-honeybees-very-cool/250634/63 "2004-06-20T02:10:39Z")
[conjecture]
I think it more probable that a beehive was moved within the territory of a hornets’ nest (the hives are portable), in the hopes that the hornets would discover it. I don’t think you could just transport a gaggle of hornets about and sic them on the bees. I’m thinking they need a base of operations, i.e., their nest, from which to feel secure enough to lauch a raid. The paper wasps in my backyard form raids on plants which are rife with caterpillars, chop up the 'pillars, and them fly them straight back to their grubs while I watch.
[/conjecture]
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-30-wasps-kill-30-000-honeybees-very-cool/250634.md?page=3)