What kind of bees/hornets are these?

Stargazer

Stargazer

Surin Legend
We have a big nest of bees or hornets building on our farm. As I once made the mistake of walking by the wrong tree carrying our 2 year old grandson, and was set upon by some nasty hornets nesting in the tree, I am cautious. My wife says they probably pollinate our passion fruit vines.

Anyone sure of the ID of these particular critters?
 

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Cent said:
Their sting is the worst. Very painful. Aggressive as hell too.
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Sounds like what attacked grandson and me. Ouch! Worse than USA Yellowjacket sting.
FERRET said:
NUKE THE F*CKERSView attachment 77836
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You’re kind of Old Testament, Cent! Sounds like you have experience! I have some insect growth regulator with me from USA that doesn’t kill yellowjackets, but taken back to the nest, kills the whole nest. Don’t know if it works with these guys. I may try. What do they eat?

Jeez, my Thai wife just said ‘Don’t kill them!’ They are beneficial she thinks! But she feeds Yellowjackets that come to our table in USA. A Buddhist/Jain? My view is different. I think they could kill a small child
 
Stargazer said:
Sounds like what attacked grandson and me. Ouch! Worse than USA Yellowjacket sting.

You’re kind of Old Testament, Cent! Sounds like you have experience! I have some insect growth regulator with me from USA that doesn’t kill yellowjackets, but taken back to the nest, kills the whole nest. Don’t know if it works with these guys. I may try. What do they eat?

Jeez, my Thai wife just said ‘Don’t kill them!’ They are beneficial she thinks! But she feeds Yellowjackets that come to our table in USA. A Buddhist/Jain? My view is different. I think they could kill a small child
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I've had experience with them. Was walking with a buddy at the exercise park. There are bathrooms built along the way. He went to use the bathroom and unexpectedly was attacked by a swarm of these f+ckers that had built a nest near the doorway entrance. He was stung numerous times and they actually followed him quite a distance as he tried to run away. I made my own hasty retreat uninjured. Fleet of foot. :) He said the stings were the worst he has ever suffered, and he had huge welts where he was stung. Stay far away if you try to spray those monsters. They are big too. Very aggressive with a wide area they consider their own to protect the hive/nest.
 
FERRET said:
NUKE THE F*CKERS
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Fortunately, my Buddhist wife prevailed until we arrived at the truth of the matter: these are a very valuable and not aggressive honeybee, Apis florea! A local guy proved this to me by holding the nest on a branch with bare arms, and slowly scraping the bees off. They flew away, and not one stung him.

The dwarf honey bee (or red dwarf honey bee), Apis florea, is one of two species of small, wild honey bees of southern and southeastern Asia. These honey bees are important pollinators, which gives them an important ecological role in the places they inhabit. A. florea is most commonly seen in Southeastern Asia (Thailand), the Northeastern part of India, China, and forested regions of the Middle East. We relocated the honeycomb over to next to our passion fruit trellis. Good neighbors.

The reflective substance on the branch either side of the nest is propolis which acts as a sticky and chemically repellent barrier to protect the nest from ants. The curtain of
bees covering the comb is 3–4 bees thick.

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My photo above

Not my photo below, but accurate:

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The damnedest beehive arrangement I’ve ever seen! A hive without an outside shell, where the living bees form the shell protecting the comb. My guess is that it is very primitive evolutionarily. These have to be the pacifists of the bee world. My Dad kept honeybees on our farm, and even the gentlest European bees had guards that would attack you if you got too close. The more aggressive European bees even more so. Yellowjackets and other hornets are quick to attack and chase. It may be that Asian Tiger wasps several warned us about were what I described attacking us for the sin of walking by their nest.
 
got lost: amazing video! A real naturalist at work. I’ll check out his other videos. Bald Face hornets are reputed to have a more painful sting than Yellowjackets (which is pretty mild and short-lasting, compared with a honeybee sting). I can picture my wife trying the hand feeding
 
Cent said:
I've had experience with them. Was walking with a buddy at the exercise park. There are bathrooms built along the way. He went to use the bathroom and unexpectedly was attacked by a swarm of these f+ckers that had built a nest near the doorway entrance. He was stung numerous times and they actually followed him quite a distance as he tried to run away. I made my own hasty retreat uninjured. Fleet of foot. :) He said the stings were the worst he has ever suffered, and he had huge welts where he was stung. Stay far away if you try to spray those monsters. They are big too. Very aggressive with a wide area they consider their own to protect the hive/nest.
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Just how big? There is a Giant Asian hornet, starting to get established in North America, that has been dubbed ‘murder hornets’ as people have died from being attacked by them. My wife just killed a centipede on our patio. No mercy from her for them. They must hold the black belt for venom intensity and longevity. In Hawai’i, a 4” one bit me on the toe, and for five hours it was like someone was holding a lit cigarette there. No remedy except waiting it out.
 
Stargazer said:
Just how big? There is a Giant Asian hornet, starting to get established in North America, that has been dubbed ‘murder hornets’ as people have died from being attacked by them. My wife just killed a centipede on our patio. No mercy from her for them. They must hold the black belt for venom intensity and longevity. In Hawai’i, a 4” one bit me on the toe, and for five hours it was like someone was holding a lit cigarette there. No remedy except waiting it out.
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Yeah, murder hornets. I myself hate hornets and wasps. I'll take bumblebees any day over those nasty creatures. And yes, the tah carp centipedes are the worst. Nasty painful bite that I have seen the results of. They will give you morphine for the pain of a tah carp bite. Intense and long lasting. If you see one, no matter how big or small, kill the *******.
 
Cent said:
Yeah, murder hornets. I myself hate hornets and wasps. I'll take bumblebees any day over those nasty creatures. And yes, the tah carp centipedes are the worst. Nasty painful bite that I have seen the results of. They will give you morphine for the pain of a tah carp bite. Intense and long lasting. If you see one, no matter how big or small, kill the *******.
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I’m not sure if morphine would touch it, but it might be fun trying. That or opium…
 
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