The origin of materials deposited by Japanese honey bees at their hive entrances as a defense against giant hornets

Abstract

Eastern honey bees (Apis cerana Fabricius, 1793) apply spots of materials derived from other organisms to the outside of their hive entrances as one of their defenses against giant hornets. In this study, we used DNA metabarcoding to identify the origin of such materials applied by Japanese honey bees (Apis cerana japonica Radoszkowski, 1877) and found them to be derived from mammals, birds, arthropods, and terrestrial plants. Our results show that this particular defensive behavior involves the use of a wider variety of taxa than previously known.