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A genetic analysis of the battlefield fatalities showed that two different species of stingless bees were fighting for control of a single hive.
The attacking swarm eventually took over the hive entirely, placing a new queen of its own in the usurped nest.
The study, published in the American Naturalist journal, suggests that such usurped nests are surprisingly common.
Ecologists from Brisbane, in Australia, and Oxford, in the UK, looked in detail at one particular hive.
"If you stand under the swarm, you can see these bees dropping out of the air."
It was inhabited by a bee species native to the area around Brisbane, called Tetragonula carbonaria.
"They live in the hollows of trees and other cavities, so they're quite common in and around the city," said the study's lead author Dr Paul Cunningham, from the Queensland University of Technology.
The attacking swarm eventually took over the hive entirely, placing a new queen of its own in the usurped nest.
The study, published in the American Naturalist journal, suggests that such usurped nests are surprisingly common.
Ecologists from Brisbane, in Australia, and Oxford, in the UK, looked in detail at one particular hive.
"If you stand under the swarm, you can see these bees dropping out of the air."
It was inhabited by a bee species native to the area around Brisbane, called Tetragonula carbonaria.
"They live in the hollows of trees and other cavities, so they're quite common in and around the city," said the study's lead author Dr Paul Cunningham, from the Queensland University of Technology.
Aussie bees fight 'hive wars'
Bee colonies in Brisbane are waging war for months on end, according to a new study, and the victorious swarms are taking over the hives of rival species.
www.bbc.com
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