The great collapse of Western honey bees had been devastating for the local flora. Thousands of wild flowers had died and many people suffered from the food shortages. In reaction to the catastrophe, beekeepers had imported Japanese honey bees in an effort to save the ecosystem.
Introducing a foreign species to an existing ecosystem was never without consequences, but the honeybees seemed to adapt relatively well and filled the hole left by their extinct cousins. Slowly, very slowly, food production started to function again, although it was still a long way to go.
People tried to act in a more environmental-friendly way. They planted flowers, used fewer pesticides and donated to organizations that aimed to preserve the remaining bee species. But as the previous conditions returned, they stopped caring.
Pesticides were sprayed again. Bee colonies started to collapse, one after another. The second mass extinction prepared itself to jump out of the shadow of ignorance and carelessness and take the last honey bees with it.
But the bees refused to go without a fight.
It was a hot Wednesday afternoon when Joe noticed a weird buzzing. He looked around but couldn’t locate the source, as he was standing on a busy sidewalk in the middle of the city. People blocked the sight in all directions.
The buzzing came closer. Became louder. Suddenly, Joe could hear screams. Screams of fear and agony. They came from behind him.
Curious and ready to help if possible, he turned around and sprinted into the direction of the screams. Several people followed his example but then came to a sudden stop when they saw the scenario that played out in front of their eyes.
A big, dark buzzing ball of insects had formed in the middle of the sidewalk. But not any kind of insect. Bees. And the screams Joe had heard? They were coming from inside the ball.
”What the fuck is happening here?” He called out while backing away.
”They came out of nowhere!” A woman squeaked hysterically. ”They just descended from above and enveloped this guy. I don’t….”
A second cloud made from bees suddenly appeared and surrounded another pedestrian who immediately started screaming too. That was the moment Joe noticed that the screams that brought him here had stopped.
The bees that had covered the first victim scattered and a body crashed to the floor. The skin looked burnt and the face was distorted into a grimace of agony.
Joe remembered a documentation he had once seen, about Japanese honeybees literally cooking a giant hornet. It had happened the same way they had killed this poor guy. Just with fewer bees. Was that it? Did the bees actively attack humans now? But why?
Someone took his arm and pulled him away. Joe stumbled and almost fell down, but managed to keep his balance at the last moment. Lost in thoughts, he hadn’t noticed even more bees appearing and attacking the people around. Burnt bodies were dropping on the asphalt left and right.
As unlikely as it might have seemed, it was true. The bees were attacking and killing humans by cooking them alive.
Joe started running for his life, but he already heard the buzzing behind him.
He knew that he couldn’t outrun them.
Sources:
Bee Brains Hold Temp Steady to Slow Cook Wasps
"Hot Bee Balls" Cook Enemy Hornets—But How Do Bees Endure the Heat?
Death and Extinction of the Bees
Got a scientific topic which you want to see as a story? Leave me a comment!
Check out 
Picture taken from pixabay.com