I Cared for a Hornet Nest Until They MultipliedToo Fast...

Today I'm bringing you how I raised and cared for an enormous nest of oriental hornets on a scale never seen before, putting in a tremendous effort to film the entire process from before they were even born to the final stage. Voracious nervous creatures with a surprising social hierarchy that as you'll see later on took a turn that completely changed the way I saw them. It all started on the very first day when some gardeners finished clearing an area and I found an abandoned nest with no hornets left lying on the ground. And being the hornet enthusiast that I am, I decided to pick it up and take it home to examine it up close. I counted more than 50 cells, each one with either a larva or an egg inside, and since I didn't know how long they had gone without feeding, I decided to offer the larva a mealworm, something that for them is barely a small snack. You just have to look at their size to get an idea of just how much they can actually eat. And here's a surprising fact. Larvae produce a saliva packed with amino acids, which adults drink directly from them for energy, so much so that in Japan an energy drink was developed based on its composition. But the exchange runs both ways. A study from Tel Aviv University found that larvae also receive nutrients back through nectar in a constant cycle the entire colony depends on. Even so, neither larvae nor adults can survive on nectar alone. They also need protein, which they get by hunting other insects. Pay close attention to this truly incredible moment, how the larva, once it finishes feeding and growing, begins building its cocoon thread by thread, starting from the base. The entire process begins in a pair of glands located near its mouth, which release a single continuous silk thread, which the larva weaves layer upon layer, forming up to 10 levels of interwoven fibers, especially concentrated at the top, right where its head will later be positioned. And most astonishing of all, this structure isn't just a shelter. It actually functions as a true biological filter, capable of blocking out bacteria and tiny particles, protecting the future hornet as it fully transforms inside over the next two weeks. The time came to feed each and every single one of them a true test of patience because there were so many, and doing it one by one took quite a while. This time, looking to offer them a varied diet, I tried a piece of meat and it seemed like they liked it even more than before. And believe it or not, these creatures are actually quite delicate and even the smallest detail in their diet can make a real difference. If everything goes well, over the next few weeks we'll get to see these larvae finally turn into fully grown hornets, although honestly you never really know for certain what might happen along the way. On top of that, some larvae had ended up outside their cells, specifically at the back of the nest, where several of the cells were already broken from the moment I found it. So I had to feed those separately, one by one, and it's genuinely satisfying watching them eat without stopping. And while I was filming this scene, with the nest completely exposed right in front of me, something started to appear at the top of one of the cells. One of the hornets was hatching, breaking through its cocoon from the inside, until it finally saw the light for the very first time. Barely a moment later, another hornet emerged right beside it, and luckily for me at this early stage, their exoskeleton is still soft and they barely have any mobility. Since I wasn't entirely sure how long it would take them to start flying and come straight at me to sting, I took advantage of that window to set up a terrarium with everything they'd need and get the nest inside as soon as possible. It had been a long day, so I left the nest in peace and headed off to rest, impatient for what I'd see the next day. When I woke up and went to check on them, both were completely active. Two sisters, each one carrying out her own task within the nest. And here's the curious part, the vast majority of what they do isn't learned. They're born already genetically programmed to know exactly what to do. And if you've been paying close attention, you'll have noticed something incredible. Their size is fixed forever the very moment they're born. Unlike us, they never grow another millimeter for the rest of their lives. The most complicated moment of the entire process had arrived, feeding the adult wasps the very first meal of their lives, and there was no room for error here. Unlike the larvae which feed on protein, adult wasps have a waist so narrow that no solid piece can pass through it, so they're forced to survive purely on sugary substances, mainly nectar, tree sap, and quite often ripe or even rotting fruit. That sugar converts almost instantly into pure energy for their flight muscles, which burn through fuel so fast that an adult wasp can barely survive somewhere between 24 and 48 hours without finding a sugar source. And here's something very few people know, they don't just eat for themselves, they store part of that food in a kind of social stomach and later regurgitate it to share with the rest of the colony. And then it happened again, another wasp being born right in front of my eyes. Witnessing that exact instant, the moment an insect breaks free from its cell and enters the world, is something very few people ever get to see this closely. The rest of the colony was already waiting, and the moment it emerged they moved in to welcome it as if they knew from the very first second that a new member of the family had just arrived. Since I picked the nest up off the ground in just two days, three wasps had already been born to help keep the entire colony running, each one carrying out her role perfectly without having learned any of it, guided purely by instinct. But there was one problem that changed everything, this colony had no queen. And that raised a question I couldn't even answer myself at the time, what happens to a wasp nest when there's no queen to lead it? That's exactly what I had to find out. And this is where the science gets truly fascinating, because inside a wasp nest it's not the first one born who leads, it's whoever imposes her position through a strict dominance hierarchy where the strongest wasps display aggressive postures toward the rest until the others submit without any real fighting ever taking place. This entire system holds together thanks to a language we can't even perceive, a language made of pheromones specific to each individual nest allowing them to instantly recognize who belongs to the colony and who's an intruder. And here's something even more incredible, some species of these wasps are actually able to recognize each other by face, memorizing the individual features of each one of their sisters, something that until recently was only thought possible in far more complex animals. Because of this, when a colony suddenly loses its queen it doesn't collapse into chaos the way you might expect. Within just a few hours a single worker begins showing a noticeably higher level of aggression than the rest and little by little she herself becomes the new figure holding the entire colony together. By the third day something happened that I honestly wasn't expecting, there were already six wasps, that's what we call them where I'm from, though in other parts of the world they're better known as hornets. In just three days an incredibly fast growth rate compared to other species which need far more time to reach that same number. And seeing this up close it becomes clear that nature has given them an edge over the rest, one that over millions of years has allowed them to spread out and colonize practically every corner of the planet. And here's a fact that's going to surprise you because these wasps don't just tolerate heat, they actually need it to survive. Their body can withstand temperatures of up to 123 degrees Fahrenheit, the highest ever recorded within their entire genus, far above other similar species. And the reason behind this is even more astonishing, that yellow stripe running along their body works almost like a tiny solar cell, capable of absorbing sunlight and converting it into energy, which explains why their activity peaks precisely during the hottest hours of the day, right when any other insect would be rushing to find shelter. And here's the curious part, they never once seemed bothered, not even when I moved the terrarium to get a closer look, something I want to be clear about, this was done purely for educational observation and is absolutely not something you should ever attempt to replicate yourself. I decided to hang a small ball of meat from a thread on the ceiling just to observe how they'd interact with it and that's when I confirmed something I'd already suspected, these creatures are absolute fanatics for protein, drawn to it like nothing else. And that's no coincidence because in the wild these very same wasps are known to attack entire beehives purely to get that animal protein needed to feed their developing larvae. Of course with a creature capable of hunting with that kind of precision, I can't leave out its sting, a defense mechanism that's extremely painful, although in the vast majority of cases it doesn't pose any real danger beyond that intense pain. But I want to make one thing clear, they don't attack out of cruelty or simple whim, they're creatures that are only following their instinct, doing exactly what nature has taught them to do since the very first day of their lives. Their serrated mandibles are so powerful that tearing through flesh requires zero effort. This video took a lot of time and effort to make but it's a topic I really wanted to share with you. I'll bring you more updates on the Vespa Orientalis very soon as there's still a lot more to cover. If you liked it please like the video and leave a comment to let me know your thoughts.