Bee Enemies - Knowledge for the Bee Keeper

Bees are exposed to many hardships and many dangers. Winds and storms prove as disastrous to them as to other navigators.

Black spiders lie in wait for them.

One day as I was looking for a bee amid some goldenrod, I spied one partly concealed under a leaf. Its baskets were full of pollen, and it did not move even though it most certainly noticed me.

On lifting up the leaf I discovered that a hairy black spider had ambushed the bee and had it by the throat. The vampire-like spider was definitely afraid of the bee's sting, and was holding it by the throat until it was completely dead.

In another part of the world you may hear of a painted lizard as an enemy of the honeybee.

In Canada and northern States, I don't believe we have a lizard that destroys the bee. There is also a tree-toad, however that sits in wait among apple and cherry blossoms, who enjoys snapping up honey bees up in short order!

It's been said that the titmouse (a small gray bird) and the woodpecker have been known to prey on honey bees. I know for certain that the kingbird is also known for this. Kingbirds are excellent at insect removal - better than any purple martin, but the Kingbird only devours the drone bees. The workers are either too small and quick, or else it has learned all to well of their nasty sting!

Most of us have little more than a child's knowledge of the honey-bee. If we ever kept bees ourselves, or visited a beekeeper's apiary, we'd be far better versed in our knowledge of where the finest honey is created.
Or that when two colonies made war upon each other they fly from their bee hives (led by the kings no less!) and fight in the air, covering the ground with dead and dying honey bees.

We might also learn that the tame bees sometimes escaped to the woods.

I know one thing for certain. We have a lot of brown bears around here and even though they don't destroy bees individually, they certainly aren't shy of ruining entire fields of a bee keeper's hives overnight.

No electric fence will keep them back, and most keepers simply use a dog as their alarm system and bear deterrent - however this isn't too pleasant for the dogs!

Check out the beekeeper's starter kits in the Country Store!

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