All language subtitles for Buddha Bees and the Giant Hornet Queen BBC Natural World EN

This is a giant hornet.

She's the largest wasp
on the planet,

and carries enough venom
to kill a man.

She's a queen

and her swollen belly reveals
she's about to become a mother.

Alone, she has just survived
the bitterest of winters

in the Japanese Alps.

Now, she has to raise a family.

But her family
is also a militia

which will fight epic battles

and strike fear and hatred
through the heart of this valley.

Despite the carnage she causes
and the enemies she makes,

the queen hornet
will find one surprising ally.

After six months of hibernation,

the hornet queen must eat
within 24 hours of awakening

or she will die.

Her waist is so thin,
she is unable to eat solid food.

Only rising sap
will keep her going.

The queen has one goal.

She must produce a new generation

of hornet queens
by the end of the summer.

To do this,
she must first raise an army.

But this army of hornets
will make her deeply unpopular

in this orchard-filled valley.

Beekeeping is big business here.

Honey bees are a giant
hornet's favourite food.

To a beekeeper,
hornets are enemy number one.

But one man feels differently.

He is passionate about his bees

but he is tolerant
towards all creatures -

even giant hornets.

My name is Yamaguchi.

I'm a Buddhist monk,

an orchid grower
and a keeper of honey bees.

Once,
when I was cycling as a child,

I was attacked by giant hornets.

I escaped and survived,
despite terrible stings.

In spite of this,
I've become fascinated by them.

And every spring
since I was attacked,

I've gone looking for
hornet queens.

For just a month or so,
they're easy to find,

whilst they visit the sap trees.

Finding a new queen is exciting

but it's also a sign
of trouble ahead.

Face to face with the queen,
he could easily crush her,

and most people would.

Yamaguchi knows the consequences
of her existence in the valley.

He hopes their paths
will not cross again.

But as a Buddhist,

he believes nature must be
allowed to take its course.

For the first month of spring,
the queen has her work cut out,

as she builds her starter nest.

She flies at up
to 50 kilometres per hour.

If you could keep up with her,
she would appear formidable.

A giant amongst wasps, her body
is packed with deadly venom.

Giant hornets claim the lives
of up to 70 Japanese each year.

Her huge sophisticated eyes
allow precision navigation.

Her fearsome jaw,
packed with muscle,

is a weapon
her daughters will inherit

and wield in bloody combat.

Her wings bear the weight
of her massive body.

She must fly
for kilometres every day

as she prepares
for the birth of her army.

Multiple layers of chitin
form an impenetrable body armour

over her precious cargo of eggs.

The time has come
to found her empire.

The queen has chosen to set up
home in the riverbank.

Underground,
the delicate starter nest

is protected
from the wind and sun.

She lays her very first egg.

Just like any mother,
her commitment

to her offspring
will be unswerving.

Her young
should have a good start...

unless luck turns against her.

Run-off from the storm
forces the river to flood.

She must escape...

but she can't
take her larvae with her.

It's a terrible setback,

but it's not the last the
valley will see of this queen.

As the sun warms
the sodden landscape,

wild Japanese honey bees
are on the move.

Each year, they leave
their old nest and swarm.

The honey reserve stored in
their stomachs won't last long,

and they must find a new home
as a matter of urgency.

It's something Yamaguchi
plans to take advantage of.

Spring is a magical time.

The countryside bursts into life.

Blossom decorates the trees

and the sky hums
with the sound of insects.

It is also time
to collect my wild bees.

All I need
is an orchid in bloom...

and an empty beehive.

Now, I must wait.

When his oriental orchid
casts its spell on the breeze,

deceit is in the air.

It's not long before a
wild honey bee is bewitched.

It's not nectar
that's lured it in,

but the smell
of its mortal enemy.

Thinking it's a hornet,
the bee attacks the petals.

Determined to fight,
she becomes ensnared,

forced to bear pollen
from the plant.

By mimicking the pheromone
of the giant hornet,

the orchid is exploiting
the ancient antagonism

between the two insects.

Another pheromone
calls in more bees,

They cannot overcome
their instinct to attack

what they believe to be
their greatest enemy.

Some bees tire of the fight
and turn their attention

to the empty hive.

Nest sites in the wild are hard
to find, so this is a gift.

But then they all desert.

Perhaps the hive
isn't good enough.

Yamaguchi remains patient.

He has faith in the orchid's
power over the bees.

And then they come.

The whole swarm
destroys the orchid bloom.

And, they've brought their queen.

She approves of their new home.

The scarred orchid is testament
to the bees' hatred

of their bitter rival,
the Japanese giant hornet.

The wild bees can be aggressive,

but towards humans
they are gentle

and Yamaguchi can handle
them without fear.

Now he's responsible
for their care.

Wild bees are less settled
than domestic honey bees,

and may abscond from a hive
at any time.

They will stay for only
as long as they feel safe.

But for now, they seem content
with the domestic arrangement.

Meanwhile, the queen hornet
has re-established herself.

She's found a new
nest site in the woods

at the edge of
the temple graveyard.

A whole month has gone by
since the spring flood.

She's laboriously rebuilt her nest
and each cell now contains a grub.

This time the queen reaches
an important milestone.

Her firstborn begins
to spin a silken cap.

After hours of spinning,
the cap dries and hardens

to form a protective cocoon

that shields
the dramatic changes within.

In just six days, the maggot
transforms into a winged killer.

She is born again.

The queen's first daughter
is also her first warrior.

Born into the dark, all she
knows is the smell of her mother,

and that's enough to bind her.

The queen's pheromones
will remind all her daughters

that only she is fertile,

and for as long as that lasts,

her all-female workforce
will do her bidding.

The more successful
this empire becomes,

the bigger the threat
to the bees in the valley.

Mr Kamatsu has been a
commercial beekeeper for 60 years.

He keeps European bees,

which yield ten times more honey
than native Japanese bees.

Almost all his life, Mr Kamatsu
has been plagued by giant hornets.

But the queen is behind schedule,

so this year
might be his lucky break...

although she has produced
several deadly warriors.

Initially, the workers hunt
for food in the nearby woods.

They aren't agile enough
to catch insects on the wing.

They stalk their prey
on the forest floor.

But there are
other predators in the woods.

Only the strongest
will take on a giant hornet.

The mantis made a big mistake.

The corpse is dismembered, but
the hunters don't stop to eat.

They cannot digest meat.

These rations are for
the queen's ravenous young.

The meat is shared out equally
amongst workers,

who then distribute it
to the larvae.

In return, the fat grubs
regurgitate amino acids

for the adults.

These give the workers
incredible stamina.

They can fly up to 60 kilometres
each day for queen and colony.

By mid-July, 30 adult workers
are active in the nest.

Each remains in service
to her mother

and the growing number of grubs.

They demand more meat.

The giant hornets now need
a more reliable source of food.

Kamatsu's hives of European honey
bees are an obvious target.

The first hunter arrives alone.

She seizes a defending honey bee
and carries the prize home.

With a supply line open,
the empire is set to expand.

The queen
and her army are on a roll.

New eggs, new grubs,
new workers.

Every day,
the empire grows faster,

driven on by the relentless
scraping of the larvae,

and fuelled by a regular diet
of European honey bees.

Observing nature
is central to the Buddhist way.

The path to enlightenment
comes from such simple tasks.

Besides, I need to assess
the risk to my own bees.

It's obvious from the activity
at the nest entrance

that the queen
is making up for lost time.

Almost a metre below the surface,

the nest interior is
the size of a basketball.

Her army is now 100-strong

and she's laying 25 eggs a day.

Her pheromones continue to command
total devotion from her daughters.

Builder hornets must work quickly
to keep up with the queen.

The nest is made from wood fibres.

Chewed up and mixed with saliva,
they dry to form a strong paper -

good for preserving temperature
and humidity.

The queen looks for empty cells.

Those she finds
are quickly filled with an egg.

But her growing success
creates its own problem.

There are so many grubs

that the supply of single
honey bees is no longer enough.

The insistent scraping
is like a call to arms,

driving the hornets to kill.

The bees rush out in defence,

but this is their undoing.

One by one, they're picked off.

More hornets join the attack.

The hornets emit
a chemical rallying cry

and this triggers
a unique phenomenon.

They no longer carry bee
carcases back to the nest.

Instead, they slaughter,
then cast aside

the body of every defender
they meet.

It's the start of a mass attack.

Each warrior
can kill up to 40 bees a minute.

European bees
outnumber the hornets 1000-1,

but they didn't evolve alongside
these huge Asian predators

and have no effective defence.

Within the hour,
10,000 bees are dying -

their stings
are not strong enough.

But, as the corpses pile up,
the hornets begin to tire.

Giant hornets are so big, they
are in danger of overheating.

But the scent of the prize inside

drives them
to fight until they drop.

30,000 honey bees
have died in three hours,

falling victim
to just 30 giant hornets.

By midday,
the defences are breached.

Now the real plunder begins.

The hornets pay little attention
to the few surviving bees.

The motivation for the attack
lies within the combs.

Outside, the exhausted hornets

exchange liquids
to boost their energy.

Inside, the defenceless young
are butchered.

The succulent and nutritious
flesh will be a massive boost

to the hornets' own larvae,
and their queen's fortunes.

The valley is beginning to feel
the full force of her empire.

For a commercial beekeeper,
the loss of a hive is devastating.

In a bad year, they can
lose half a million bees

to giant hornets.

They retaliate with sweet
but sticky traps

that seduce foraging scouts.

Whenever nests are discovered,
they are gassed and unearthed.

Beekeepers will risk anything
to keep their bees safe.

- Kampai!
- Kampai!

In celebration,
the hornets are deep fried.

They are considered a delicacy.

In this case, revenge is a dish
best served with chopsticks.

By building her
nest near sacred ground,

the queen has a stroke
of good fortune.

Her empire escapes
the hornet hunter's attention.

I have mixed feelings
about her survival.

Her huge army poses a serious
threat to my honey bees.

However, my calling forbids me

from injuring
any living creature.

All I can do
is watch over my bees

and see how fate will unfold.

I hope all that pollen you're
carrying isn't too heavy,

little bee.

The life of a honey bee
is hard enough.

During the height of summer,

a foraging bee works
so furiously,

that it can wear itself out
in less than a month.

Half its usual life expectancy.

Back in the hive,

those bees too young to
forage are housekeeping.

Like the hornet queen,

the queen bee has
the immeasurable task

of laying enough eggs
to ensure the health

and future of the colony.

The custom of keeping
wild Japanese bees

is as old as society itself,

and Yamaguchi has kept bees
since boyhood.

Japanese bees are so sensitive
that it takes great patience

and skill to keep them.

The art of keeping them lies
in understanding their behaviour.

They make honey stores
for the winter

but they also produce enough
for Yamaguchi to harvest.

Japanese bees may produce
less honey than European bees,

but the taste is very special.

It's the smell of this growing
store of energy-rich honey

which could be their downfall,
if it draws in a hornet scout.

But right now the hornets have
other problems to contend with.

The nest is now monstrous.

The workers have excavated
over a ton of earth.

There are so many bodies
living at close quarters

that the queen and her dynasty
are in danger of overheating.

So workers create air
conditioning,

keeping a steady flow
of fresh air circulating.

Being unable to cope
with high temperatures

is a giant hornet's
Achilles heel.

The warmth of the hornet's nest
belies the change in season.

Seasons change fast
up here in the mountains.

When autumn arrives, there
are far fewer insects around.

This means my hives are even
more vulnerable to attack.

For me, it's an anxious time.

In the search for autumnal food,

a scout hornet discovers
Yamaguchi's wild bees.

The honey bees fan an alarm
pheromone through the air.

This alerts the whole hive
to the hornet's presence.

The scout smells
the honey within.

A prize this rich
is worth scent-marking.

But unlike the European bees,

these Japanese bees
do not attack.

Instead,
they lure the scout inside.

Still, the bees hang fire.

Then, one is caught.

It's the signal the others
have been waiting for.

Surrounded by vibrating bodies,

the hornet at the core of the
bee ball begins to overheat.

The bees have the advantage -

a heat tolerance two degrees
above that of their enemy.

At 46 degrees Celsius,
the aggressor is roasted alive.

The wild bees have spent millions
of years living with the enemy.

That's why
they alone have developed

this extraordinary
survival strategy.

Killing the scout is not enough
to keep them safe.

The bees must also remove
her scent mark,

so that other hornets
will not find them.

My bees have saved themselves
from the mass attack,

but only
because they caught the scout.

Next time,
they may not be so lucky.

The dead hornet won't be missed.

For the queen,

she was just one
of nearly 300 warriors.

Her nest now contains
an equal number of workers

and larvae.

Once this crucial ratio
is reached,

the queen changes tack.

She can begin to lay eggs
containing males

and future queens.

These larvae still need
massive amounts of food,

but the abundance of summer
is over.

To satisfy the larvae,

the workers are driven to
attack unusual and fearsome prey -

a three-inch
long-horned beetle.

The hornet seems desperate.

But the beetle's armour
is just too tough.

This warrior has failed today -
the grubs go hungry.

The future of the queen's
bloodline seems uncertain.

Some are already starving
in their cells.

Despite her best efforts,
the queen has run out of time.

There is one other food source

that lives on into
the cold weather,

but it's an army strong enough
to rival the queen's.

Yellow hornets have built
a nest in a shrine.

Inside is a feast
of protein-rich larvae.

It is inevitable

that the queen's empire
will face a stark choice.

To attack their
most dangerous enemy...

or starve.

The stage is set for a war...
between hornets.

Yellow hornets are a little
smaller than the giants,

but there are 1,500
of them in this nest.

They outnumber the giants
five to one.

Yet the queen's workers
are driven to fight.

They have no option but to
take on their bitter rivals.

The giants are outnumbered
and each attacks alone.

It's not a good strategy.

The yellows despatch giant
after giant with a lethal sting

to the back of the neck.

It's the only chink
in a giant hornet's armour.

Today's battle is lost,

but this is a war of attrition.

The following morning,

the giants begin
a new wave of attacks.

And this time, they gain
control of the nest envelope.

A breach is made in the
yellow hornets' defences.

The yellows begin to tear down

their own walls
in hopeless panic.

Finally,
their only option is desertion.

Victory comes
at a terrible cost,

but the rewards to the queen
are enormous.

The giant hornet warriors work
through the abandoned nest

ripping out food.

The bounty they bring back
will be enough

to fuel the young males and
queens through metamorphosis.

The queen is so close
to achieving success.

Within days of the battle,

her young fertile offspring
have begun to spin their caps.

But at this triumphant moment,
something is wrong.

Her own fertility has failed,

and she no longer
produces the pheromones

which have kept her
aggressive warriors subjugated.

Her workers sense her impotence.

Her faithful warriors,
her very own daughters,

rise up against her.

She is killed.

In this power vacuum,
the nest descends into anarchy.

The workers turn
on their own larvae

and fight amongst themselves.

The nest floor
is covered with the death

and decay of a fallen empire.

But the dead queen's life
has not been in vain.

From the ruins of the empire,
new lives emerge.

First males, and then new queens
burst forth from their cells...

..and a different kind
of battle begins.

Males fight for
the right to mate.

The queens will only mate
once before escaping,

and every one that does,

carries the old
queen's bloodline.

Like her, they will have
many challenges to overcome,

but their mother was strong,

so they will have
a fighting chance.

As I prepare
my orchids for winter,

I discover a new queen.

Her very existence means
the old queen's cycle of nature

is complete.

I can't say for certain
what will happen next year,

but in allowing her to live
alongside my bees,

I place my trust
in the balance of nature.