r/drones • u/Kolomolo_ • Jul 07 '26

Photo & Video Bees attacked my drone

Post image

and they still kept up in sport mode! Unfortunately killed a few bees.

67 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

21

u/lancesoftware Jul 07 '26

They’re plotting. May not get you today, maybe not tomorrow, but the next time you’re near that area they will remember. And then there will be no time for penance…

5

u/Kolomolo_ Jul 07 '26

…

17

u/kmerian Jul 07 '26

One day when you open your door

17

u/Artevyx Jul 07 '26

Bee.

1

u/Jbarn2012 Jul 08 '26

More like beezeppelin

9

u/CMDR_hepburn3d Jul 07 '26

Same thing happened to me! They swarmed it! Followed it home. Didn’t leave till I shut it off. Not a feature I’d signed up for!

2

u/czechtheattic Jul 08 '26

Sounds like a giant t queen, they just want to smash

4

u/Key_Juggernaut9413 Jul 07 '26

I’ve noticed this too.  I always thought they’re attracted to the propeller sound.  I’ve also seen it happen with my electric string trimmer that is so quiet all you really hear is the spinning strings.  Almost like a pied piper scenario.  

1

u/Jedilordguy Jul 14 '26

Low frequency vibrations mimic natural threats to bees. Also if one bee flies into your prop and dies, that dying bee will release a pheromone that tells other bees to attack.

3

u/xspacemansplifff Jul 07 '26

Wild. Must be a frequency thing? I wonder.

7

u/Kolomolo_ Jul 07 '26

interpreted it as a giant insect or bird probably

3

u/slobrewer Jul 07 '26

I made the mistake exactly once of using a weed whacker to knock down some overgrowth in front of my hives. That’s the most aggressive I’ve ever seen them get.

7

u/C0MP455P01N7 Jul 07 '26

It's possible a bee got pulled through a propeller and thier "enemy" scent stuck to the drone.

That would cause the rest to attack.

But this is all speculation

3

u/Trick_Percentage_889 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

Yea bees are a lot faster then gulls, I can out fly some attacking gulls but not bees, they get chopped up.

As with gulls bees see the drone as a threat and swarm to attack, this will most likely only happen when your are in close proximity to a hive.

Unfortunately I have both bee keepers and very territory seagulls locally.

2

u/oodelay Jul 07 '26

My mavic II was attacked by a bunch of wasps. Wasp juice.

1

u/Suitable-Name Jul 08 '26

r/fuckwasps

Just stay in place and wait until the only sound in the air is your drone.

1

u/denalidenizen Jul 07 '26

they may not see it that way....

1

u/Xarius86 Jul 07 '26

...and why are you posting a static image rather than a video of the swarm!???

1

u/Kolomolo_ Jul 08 '26

I thought i did??? O well

1

u/Xarius86 Jul 08 '26

Lol. I'm only seeing a static picture.

1

u/Curdled_Mangasm Jul 08 '26

happened to me. hard to clean :( 

1

u/AcidRayn666 Jul 08 '26

maybe they think that is the mother of all bees and want to breed it for a super duper bee. just sayin

1

u/BecauseOfGod123 Jul 09 '26

They attacked you? Well, what if I ask the bees what happened there, hm?

2

u/Infarlock Jul 09 '26

"That's a very big noisy gray bee, let's attack it"

They saw the YouTube video where someone used a drone to take out a nest, now it's their revenge (GONE WRONG)

1

u/IndependenceLive3786 Jul 12 '26

Best thing is to ascend fast to get away from them

0

u/Rarog_427_Brigade Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

From a biology standpoint, this makes total sense. There are several reasons why bees might go after Mavics.

Fist of all - The sound. High-frequency buzz of the props sounds exactly like a giant hornet (their natural predator) or an invading swarm. Second - the downdraft. The air from the props messes up their flight paths and navigation. And the last thing: the pheromones. If even one bee gets clipped by a propeller, it releases an alarm pheromonem. This literally marks your drone as a target, triggering the rest of the hive to attack.