Ants can pose a significant threat to bee hives.

Japanese honey bees have been captured using a new technique called “wing-slapping” to protect their hives from intruding ants.

Bees have long used the flapping force of their wings as a defence mechanism that literally blows ants away.

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The behaviour was captured by Yugo Seko, Kiyohito Morii, and Yoshiko Sakamoto of the National Institute for Environmental StudiesCredit: National Institute for Environmental Studies

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The team photographed the ant-swatting with a high-speed camera, showing the bees rotating their bodies and flicking ants away with their wingsCredit: National Institute for Environmental Studies

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The effectiveness of their “wing-slapping” varied depending on what species of ants the bees were contending withCredit: National Institute for Environmental Studies

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Ants eat bee larvae and can quickly take over entire hives, which may push a weak bee colony to collapseCredit: National Institute for Environmental Studies
But the Japanese variety of honey bees have displayed an entirely new, never before recorded, behaviour.

The behaviour was captured by Yugo Seko, Kiyohito Morii, and Yoshiko Sakamoto of the National Institute for Environmental Studies.

“I myself did not notice this behavior during my approximately 10 years of beekeeping experience,” Sakamoto told New Scientist.

The team photographed the ant-swatting with a high-speed camera, showing the bees rotating their bodies and flicking ants away with their wings.

The interaction was recorded in the video above.

The video shows three local species of ants walking towards the entrance of two Japanese honey bee colonies.

The effectiveness of their “wing-slapping” varied depending on what species of ants the bees were contending with.

Japanese queenless ants and Japanese pavement ants were fended off fairly successfully, with half to about one-third of bee whacks flinging the ants away.

Whereas “wing-slapping” Japanese wood ants, a larger and faster variety, was not as successful.
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Experts believe Japanese honey bees have evolved combative measures to protect their hives – but they’re unsure why.

Morii added: “These defensive behaviours still hold many mysteries.”