Attack of the Japanese Hornets!

With its large body and wingspan, the Japanese giant hornet is quite the fearsome creature. It is known to prey on bees, often dismembering heads and limbs in the heat of battle. It eats their honey too, because after all, to the victor belong the spoils.

It is claimed that a single Japanese giant hornet can kill 40 honey bees in a minute, so can you imagine what damage a nest of them could cause? The BBC did exactly that. In this clip, a band of 30 Japanese giant hornets unleash hell upon a colony of 30,000 diminutive European honey bees. The attack is timed to some epic orchestral music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BHEkjBDWKs

The original clip along with the relevant commentary can be seen after the jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L54exo8JTUs

[via BlackNotes]