Earwigs....

[Aroc]

This time of year especially we have earwigs all over the place.  Lift anything up that?s outside and you will see sometimes hundreds running for cover.

We also get the in our hives...under the top cover especially.  Never really thought of them as a threat but just thought I?d inquire those that know more.  Someone said they felt the helped with mite threat but not sure about that.

Any thoughts?

[Ben Framed]

This time of year especially we have earwigs all over the place.  Lift anything up that?s outside and you will see sometimes hundreds running for cover.

We also get the in our hives...under the top cover especially.  Never really thought of them as a threat but just thought I?d inquire those that know more.  Someone said they felt the helped with mite threat but not sure about that.

Any thoughts?

Aroc I have never heard of earwigs.

[cao]

I have seen several on my hives.  I think that there is a thread on here from a couple years ago that discusses them.  I think that the are beneficial to the hive only eating the bugs that are around the hive.  They don't bother the bees.

[The15thMember]

I see earwigs around my hives occasionally, usually between the covers.  I don't think they are much of a problem.  They like to hang out in cool, dark places, and they are omnivorous scavengers, so I doubt they try to invade the hive space the bees are living in.  They are not dangerous to people either.  They can pinch with their pincers if they feel threatened, but they don't sting or bite.  The males have curved pincers and the females have straight ones.  I was doing a little reading about them, and I found out that female earwigs actually care for and raise their young, which is of course quite rare amongst non-social insects.           

[beesonhay465]

some people actually buy them for their hives. they like varroa mites and will grab one and hold it while they eat one. the mites have no defence . some where i have seen a video of one in action.

[Acebird]

Earwigs are good for clean up.  They hang around damp rotting wood.

[van from Arkansas]

Earwigs are just weird little insects: a set of pinchers on the butt????  and even the name is weird:  EAR WIG!  What was that fella drinking when he/she named the insect???
Van

[The15thMember]

Earwigs are just weird little insects: a set of pinchers on the butt????  and even the name is weird:  EAR WIG!  What was that fella drinking when he/she named the insect???
Van

If you are actually curious, the name comes from an old erroneous wives tale that earwigs like to crawl into human ears.  "Wig" comes from the Old English word wicga which meant "insect".  Wicga is one of the roots for our modern word "wiggle".  However, just to reiterate, earwigs do NOT seek out human ears.           

[FloridaGardener]

....an old erroneous wives' tale made horrifying by the earwig scene in The Wrath of Khan.  Saw it one time 30 years ago and NEVER again!

[BeeMaster2]

The brown earwigs are better than the black ones per that thread we had here several years ago. The like today SHBs per our Australian friends.
Jim Altmiller

[The15thMember]

....an old erroneous wives' tale made horrifying by the earwig scene in The Wrath of Khan.  Saw it one time 30 years ago and NEVER again!

As an avid Star Trek fan, I?m afraid I must correct you. That was not an earwig, but a juvenile Ceti eel. 

[FloridaGardener]

That was not an earwig, but a juvenile Ceti eel.

Argh!

Could it get worse?
It just did!

[TheHoneyPump]

..

https://youtu.be/YWqHkYtREAE

..

https://youtu.be/fmpP73-SHPQ
..

[The15thMember]

Thank you, HP, for reminding us that there are 2 sides to every coin.  Even the coin of "slimy aliens that go in your ear and take over at least part of your brain." 

[TheHoneyPump]

LOL.  Happy you liked it. :)
I will suffer a babelfish before beans every time!