Hey now.

January 28, 2024 2:20 PM

"Some honeybees in Italy regularly steal pollen off the backs of bumblebees... Pollen stealing has been seen before, in the United States. But now, researchers in Italy have also observed honeybees snatching pollen off the backs of bumblebees. The observations, published December 21 in Apidologie, are among the most extensive documentation of bee-on-bee larceny to date." previously
posted by clavdivs (14 comments total)

If the bumblebees got something out of it, it’d be B2B commerce.
posted by zamboni at 2:30 PM on January 28 [21 favorites]

I hear the beekeepers know all about this but do nothing because they are getting a piece of the honey on the back end. It’s corrupt all the way to the top!
posted by vorpal bunny at 2:50 PM on January 28 [5 favorites]

a bees of the action
posted by seanmpuckett at 3:07 PM on January 28 [9 favorites]

Wow! Thanks for sharing those videos. That's crazy. Those honey bees look like such assholes.
posted by olykate at 3:32 PM on January 28 [1 favorite]

Those honey bees look like such assholes.

The Honey Bees would like to say, You Need Us.
posted by hippybear at 3:34 PM on January 28 [3 favorites]

Bees know about zero, and they know its easier to steal from someone who as already done the work than to do the work yourself. Same as it ever was.
posted by os tuberoes at 3:34 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]

The bee mafia strikes again.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 4:25 PM on January 28 [3 favorites]

I read about species of bumblebee that found a way to get the pollen back: they used a sting operation.
posted by alphanerd at 4:52 PM on January 28 [10 favorites]

I blame society.
posted by senor biggles at 4:55 PM on January 28 [3 favorites]

work smarter not harder
posted by fluttering hellfire at 5:40 PM on January 28 [4 favorites]

Two bees are hanging out in a honeycomb, their stripes white-and-black instead of yellow-and-black.

"...so, that's my story. How did you end up in a cell?"
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:29 PM on January 28 [3 favorites]

The buzz is now that you have to bee the change you want to see.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 2:04 AM on January 29 [2 favorites]

bee best
posted by nofundy at 4:25 AM on January 29 [2 favorites]

Those little bee-stards!
posted by McCoy Pauley at 6:26 AM on January 30 [1 favorite]