bumble bee rescues his friend from spider web

This video looks like a bumblebee is caught in a spiders web just about to get caught by the spider when another bumblebee swoops in and stings the spider and both bees get away.

Pretty cool video.
eta
the youtube comments are saying its actually a leg of the bumblebee that looks like it stung the spider and it looks like that is probably right imo.

a reply to: alienjuggalo

They must bee very good friends, to risk a sting operation like that. I wonder if they met on the web...

...

a reply to: alienjuggalo

Very cool! And Yes, as the guy in video says, we need a bee expert to tells about bee behavior!

a reply to: alienjuggalo

This is amazing! I was just wondering the other day if insects that live in drone colonies (like ants) think about each other as individuals, if they think or care about one another, or if they just see each other as expendable units all serving a queen. (I know, I'm weird like that.)

What a great time to post this vid!

That was BAD A$$

Thanks for sharing

That is so cool! Amazing aim and accuracy on the bee's part. And just when Spidey thought he was about to enjoy a gourmet meal too.

Don't think the bee stings it.... as someone points out in the comments, it's the bees leg lining up with its body.
Not the right size/shape to be a stinger.
Watch the slow mo clip a few times and you see the leg come around from the right...counter clockwise.

Cool video all the same.

That bees can communicate with each other was, I thought common knowledge.

Heck, I've been communicating with them for years.

a reply to: alienjuggalo

I agree with the comments on youtube that the "stinger" is actually the second bumblebee's legs but pretty sure it did sting the spider. Bumblebees, like bees, release pheromone communications so it could very well be that the first bee signaled danger and the second swooped in. I don't think it's total coincidence though because that second bumblebee does go straight after the spider. I cannot see any other reason why a bumblebee would willingly fly into a potential predator directly. Get caught in its web like the first? Sure but not straight to it. I'm also very certain that bees do communicate distress.

a reply to: alienjuggalo

Altruism and empathy from a creature so small that we would not think it possible, a conscious mind however tiny, it would be sad had it stung the spider as a bee then dies because they are only able to sting once.
And there are people whom believe animals do not have souls.

a reply to: blupblup
Awesome video.

Actually i think it is the stinger, if you pause and play in the slow mo you can see both the stinger and the leg side by side.

Btw. only the female have a stinger

a reply to: AfterInfinity

That was so bad it was funny!!!!

I learned something new today. I never knew Bumble Bees never died when they stung and it's only honeybees that die.

S&F

a reply to: Mianeye


We'll agree to disagree then, it's definitely not the stinger, it's a leg.


"In fact, what one can see is the rear leg of the bee which happens to line up with the tip of the abdomen for a moment. It is too long and thick for a bee sting."


"Yeah appears that is correct, just a crazy coincidence. Re-watched it at 0.25 speed and its one of its back legs lining up perfectly."




Also your pic makes it look like you've taken a screen grab of the video

Also here ya go

Dramatically, a second bee that must also have got trapped in the house then comes crashing in, falls on its back and thrashes around a bit. As the second bee flails around on its back, it looks in one frame as if it stings the spider.

In fact, what one can see is the rear leg of the bee which happens to line up with the tip of the abdomen for a moment. It is too long and thick for a bee sting. The spider runs away, and the bees break free (as bumblebees usually do from spider’s webs).

www.iflscience.com...

a reply to: blupblup

You might be right, after watching it again it looks like the frames makes a little doubling trick

Totally shanked the spider for his homie. Lol nice

originally posted by: NarcolepticBuddha
a reply to: alienjuggalo

This is amazing! I was just wondering the other day if insects that live in drone colonies (like ants) think about each other as individuals, if they think or care about one another, or if they just see each other as expendable units all serving a queen. (I know, I'm weird like that.)

What a great time to post this vid!

Wasps are programmed to home in on the smell of dying wasps of the same species. That's been proven. I'd guess that would also apply to the sound of another individual in distress.

With species of bee and wasp that live solitary lives, they usually have individual colors that allow them to recognize neighbors. That's fairly easy to do with neurons and image processing.

The second Bee is just as clumsy as the first. Leg or stinger, it didn't bother the spider.

For all we know both Bees got eaten.

This is something out of nothing, and why does this guy have all these Bees knocking around?

That was definitely cool whether stinger or leg. The bee was definitely going for that spider. I also didn't know honey bees died after they sting. Why, when we need them so badly are they the most fragile.