It never occurred to scientists that bees would savagely attack one another for their hive and resources. It was believed that hornets and wasps would attack them for their resources and and food. However what many people don’t know about these tiny creatures is they wage surprisingly violent and tactical wars against one another.

For the first time ever scientists observed what they joking referred to as Bee’s playing Game of Thrones. What they are referencing is that bees of different species wage aggressive and lengthy wars on one another to control a hive and replace it with their Queen. Oxford University scientists as well as the Australian University of Queensland discovered two species of sting-less bees fighting for a hive. Usually it was thought bees of different species didn’t attack one another but a study of the aftermath of a bee war showed that the dead bees were comprised of two different species. This may seem like a normal everyday encounter in nature, two creatures fighting for territory or the opposite sex, however this is different. Confrontations in nature rarely end in death. According to a study done posted in the “American Naturalist” animals, over the course of time, have changed their tactics and strategies for dominance so that the encounter doesn’t end fatally, however it has been known to happen. What makes the bees so interesting is they wage a “war of attrition”, which means  they go for casualties only. This results in one colony or the other being completely eradicated.

The photo above is showing bees in two’s entangled with one another dead on the ground. The two bees are separate species and showed scientists that bees wage inter-species wars.

The goal of the attacking colony of bees is to kill the queen of the defending hive, replace her with their queen, and then re-colonize it. In order to accomplish this feat, hordes of drones (worker bees) attack the hive and attempt to kill every defending bee, including the young and their eggs. The attacking colony will try to drag the queen out of the hive and kill her for all to see, indicating they won and will continue to fight the remaining drones. Another interesting factor to note is that the attacking colony will continue to fight for weeks or even months. Not many species on the planet fight for that long, continuously.

Bees are definitely diligent creatures from pollinating plants to constructing amazingly complex hives. They are especially good at coordinating their attacks and sending wave after wave of drones to die for their queen in the overtaking of another hive. Bees attack other hives for their resources and for the ideal placement they are in. One things for sure location, location, location. Bee hives can be well defended if there are limited routes to gain access inside, such as building a hive inside a hollow tree, or even underground. Its pretty amazing to see such small creatures clash in such mighty wars.