Honeyguide birds lead people to bees’ nests and get beeswax as a reward, however digital camera traps reveal that honey badgers, baboons and mongooses all feed on the leftovers
Life
6 December 2022
Many animals in southern Africa feed on beeswax and, by doing so, they assist keep a novel partnership between people and birds that lead honey-hunters to wild bees’ nests.
Until now, it was thought that only a few animals aside from larger honeyguides (Indicator indicator) may digest beeswax – a high-energy meals that the birds get hold of as a reward from people who break open bees’ nests.
David Lloyd-Jones on the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and his colleagues wished to see if bigger animals feeding on …