You may not have been aware of it, but those terrifying "murder hornets" are known for launching full-on assaults against beehives in which half a dozen of them can kill like 25,000 bees in a matter of hours.

That's unsettling enough as it is. Worse still is the newly discovered fact that the bees... also scream and screech while it's happening:

Asian giant hornets, also known as murder hornets, have spooked some residents over the past year after they invaded Washington state. But a new study shows that it's not just some people who are scared of the two-inch-long stinging insect — even bees are screaming and buzzing away when they invade.

The study, published Tuesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science, found that honey bees will buzz, run, and use loud, unique sounds to alert their fellow hive members when murder hornets attack. The sounds they make serve as a distinctive distress signal so other bees can prepare. Along with gathering at the entrance, bees will spread dung around the colony entrances in an effort to repel the hornets.

Alas, reading about it is not enough. You have to hear it as well:

If I were a murder hornet and I heard that sound, I'd turn right around and leave, thank you very much.