Would be interesting to know how long ago this trait evolved, and whether the current state of affairs is stable or if adaptations are in progress.

It's not too hard to imagine a mutation from a toxin that causes painful bites, to something more lethal - and this would dramatically increase the amount of 'food' available to these critters.

Hopefully that doesn't happen for at least a million years or more, bc if you thought mosquitoes were bad ..

> In addition, though they feed on meat, their honey is reportedly still sweet and edible. “They store the meat in special chambers that are sealed off for two weeks before they access it, and these chambers are separate from where the honey is stored,” Maccaro said.

I have so many questions

Right. Honey is concentrated nectar. So how do they produce honey if they're not collecting nectar?

A question for any bee experts: there have been a few times I’ve been eating a sandwich or sushi in a nearby park in NY, and a bee has flown over, found the meat in whatever I’m eating, spent some time cutting a piece off, and flown off with it. Would anyone know what sort of bee this could have been, or any other info on what was going on?

Anecdotal - I've seen yellow jackets take an interest in deli meat on multiple occasions. Apparently it has something to do with the time of year. I want to say it's springtime when they crave the protein, but, not sure.

Mid summer they need protein.

It’s a great way to kill them and not bees, and the basis of the poison Vespex.

https://merchento.com/vespex.html

A wasp?

People in the US seem to use "bee" for anything ranging from paper wasps to bumble bees and hornets.

Usually people in the US are pretty good about distinguishing between sinister wasps and friendly honeybees

In Japan they have the same casual name, though, which I find almost as disturbing as the occasional thumb-sized giant wasps in Tokyo

I’m not an expert, but it was about the size + hairiness that I associate with bees.

Where I'm from (Atlanta), the ground-dwelling type eat meat.

One of the most disgusting things I've ever seen in my life was in Vancouver, BC near some community garden next to a dog park which had a beekeeping project going on. Someone didn't clean up after their dog, but it was COVERED in bees, and then me and my friends realized that kids were eating that honey after going up to where the hive was and reading a placard about what the project was about

But eating things grown fertilized with manure doesn't wig you out?

I get the sense that plants are better natural filters for stuff like bacteria, yeah

"and out of the strong came forth sweetness"

If someone cross-breeds these with Japanese mountain hornets, I'm out.

See also a good home-made trap that relies on this behavior: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FhifTGKtUQ