what is the main predator of bee's :?:
Lots of things will eat bees if given a chance. I keep a half dozen hives in my yard, and the entrie micro-ecosystem has changed. Wasps have moved in with a vengeance, and many battles are fought at the entrances. I had never seen dragonflys around here, but have a mess of them now in the spring and early summer. The occasional bumble bee that was working the hedge grew to several colonys in a couple planters. Now there's a battle when the bumbler tries to rob some honey. I've observed a praying mantis grab a bee and proceed to devour it head first. The occasional skunk shows up to stir them into a frenzy. I haven't seen much change in the birds, I think the magpies have the area staked out and chase everything else away, including attacking my dog!! The mites paraticize and will kill a colony if left unchecked, but I don't consider them a predator. No bears in the neihborhood, but bears will tear up a beeyard pretty quickly. I sure people in different parts of the world have different critters to deal with.
Probably mice and shrews kill the most hives. Probably bears kill the next most hives. Probably skunks eat more bees. Possums would probably be next. But somtimes bald faced hornets and yellow jackets will eat a lot of bees.
thanks guy's
On the east cost we also see small hive beetles.
Still I think the novice beekeeper poses the greatest threat. I have a ferel hive abandoned for twelve years. I reclaimed it and put it into a new hive and managed it all summer. It does much better than my expensive purchased queens and colonies. The bees survived all these years without my assistance. So far they have survived despite my assistance. I believe bees will deal with most pests if we keep the colonies strong and do not over treat the problems. For me I am finding the most important factor is learning to read the keys and knowing when to act.
And then there's the famous Bee Eater!!!
(http://www.datadubai.com/images/beeeater1_1.jpg)
In our country major tit cacthes bees all the winter, but it is not fatal.
(http://www.arkive.org/media/1A5F506F-E4C4-455C-8250-CF7B89865875/Presentation.Medium/picture.jpg)
thanks
Quote from: gottabeeOn the east cost we also see small hive beetles.
Still I think the novice beekeeper poses the greatest threat. I have a ferel hive abandoned for twelve years. I reclaimed it and put it into a new hive and managed it all summer. It does much better than my expensive purchased queens and colonies. The bees survived all these years without my assistance. So far they have survived despite my assistance. I believe bees will deal with most pests if we keep the colonies strong and do not over treat the problems. For me I am finding the most important factor is learning to read the keys and knowing when to act.
Are you dead certain that a colony of bees has been consistantly, without fail,
active in that box? Bee colonies perish and new swarms come in and take over, and over and over. Unless you can state that you have monitered your found colony over the years your findings are not conclusive IMO.
And why would a novice beekeeper be a threat? I'm as novice as one can be and I don't think I'm a threat to anything bees included. Furthermore, from my gleanings we ALL start as novices, you included, gottabee :wink:
Don't forget robber bees from another colony---they can devastate a new colony or weak colony at the blink of an eye. Robber screens are now mandatory in my yard for the smaller or newer hives. Mites even if controlled will weaken the colony over a period of years to the point that they will succumb to secondary infections or predation much easier than they would otherwise. I think mite control(verroa-tracheal)is number one priority in good and productive management.