Invasion Of The Asians?

Invasive Asian hornets are causing considerable damage to UK colonies of social bees. They attack colonies of both bumblebees and domesticated honeybees. Hornets hover outside such colonies, picking off workers, as they return. In deed, one Asian hornet can kill and eat 50 honeybees each day. Hornet presence also stops worker honeybees emerging, from their hive, to forage for nectar. This, not only reduces honey yield, but also valuable pollination services. A BBC article optimistically suggests, however, that 'bees' are 'learning to fight off invasive hornets' (https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240206-the-bees-learning-to-fight-off-invasive-hornets). It's clear from the actual BBC account, that this is a misrepresentation. There are many species of UK social bees, with different colony sizes, life-styles and behavioural repertoires. Only one species, the Buff-tailed bumblebee, has actually been shown to be capable of dealing with attack by Asian hornets. Its workers drop to the ground, taking the hornet with them. The hornet may then lose its grip on the bee. That bee can also raise its defensive sting and grapple with the hornet. The Buff-tailed bumblebee, however, doesn't learn this response. It's already part of this species' 'evolutionary arsenal' for dealing with other attackers. It's highly unlikely that honeybees and other social bee species, will acquire a similar response. Most bee behaviour is actually encoded in the insect's genes. Honeybees are also much smaller than bumblebees, so simply dropping probably wouldn't work. Asian hornets appear to be another problem, being brought to the UK by climate change. The abilities of native bee species to adapt to their presence, is very limited.