thermoballing
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Noun
[edit]thermoballing (uncountable)
- (beekeeping) An incident where honeybees surround a threat and cause it to die through high temperature.
- 2007 September 17, “Honey Bee Defense Leaves Hornets Breathless”, in Science[1]:
- Certain subspecies, such as Japanese honey bees, guard against hornets by "thermoballing."
- (Can we date this quote?), Helen Roy, “Asian hornet guide: how to identify, the difference from a native European hornet, and how to report a sighting”, in BBC Wildlife Magazine[2]:
- Some honeybees have adapted to defend themselves from Asian giant hornets via thermoballing, which is when they surround the hornet and vibrate their muscles.