Philippa Skett is an intern with the Society of Biology, who sometimes gets to watch YouTube videos as part of her job. With the 24 Hour Lecture taking place this evening, get yourself ready with her and Professor Adam Hart’s pick of buzzing videos of ants and bees.
Giant honeybees: These bees are brave enough to nest out in the open, at the top of the tallest of tress. Giant Asiatic Bees, the biggest of the honey bees, are investigated by David Attenborough who bravely tests their limits to see what warning signs they send to predators.
The Waggle Dance: This documentary excerpt looks at the waggle dance of the honey bee- the key communicative method these insects use to tell others where they are sourcing their nectar from.
Honeybees roast their rival: Native Japanese Honey bees protect their young against the Giant Hornet, their larger and more intimidating predator. Using insect trickery, the scouts of the hive slowly roast alive the intruder.
Honey ant colony raiding a rival nest: This excerpt from BBC 2 Documentary Natural World shows how one ant colony strips another of all its worldly possessions, including the other ants.
Inside a giant ant hill: Researchers fill an ant’s nest with tonnes of concrete to see just how big the structure of an ant’s nest can be.
Ants into art: Ant expert Walter Tschinkel makes a three dimensional cast of an underground colony using moltern aluminium.
Slavemaking ants: how one colony takes the pupae from another colony to develop into their own workers, known as slaves.
The World’s Deadliest Ants: Army ants take on prey six times its size or carves larger insects into manageable pieces to feed upon.
The World’s Weirdest Ants: Fire Ants form a living raft as their nest floods, with surprisingly successful results.
Ants that walk on water: In this clip from Life in the Undergrowth, Attenborough looks at an ants nest in an Australian Mangrove, and how it recovers from constant flooding.
Ant Attack: an exerpt from the BBC show Ant Attack, and details just how ants battle with termites to take over their nest.
How big is the world’s biggest ant?: Steve Backsall from the children’s show Deadly 60 looks at the bullet ants and dangerously lets one crawl over his hand.
The Trap Jaw Ant: These ants have mandibles that snap down on prey with a speed unlike anything else seen in nature.