Enemies of bees can cause enormous damage to beekeeping if the necessary measures are not taken to create protection for the bee colony. Pests that eat bees and their waste products can be among insects, mammals, and birds. To effectively combat them, each beekeeper needs to know the main representatives and how to deal with them correctly.
Who can threaten bees
The threat to the bee colony causes anxiety among the bees, because of which they increase their feed intake and reduce the delivery of the bribe. All pests of bees that harm them were conditionally divided into 2 groups according to the way of life relative to the bee colony:
- parasites of bees that constantly or seasonally live in hives (various moths, mites, beetles, mice), feed on wax, bee bread, honey, wooden parts of the house, corpses of insects;
- predators living separately from bees, but hunting for them or honey - insectivorous birds, reptiles, mammals, carnivorous insects.
The amount of damage can be different: from disruption of the usual rhythm of life to the extinction of an entire bee colony or bees leaving the hive. In any case, this negatively affects the results of all beekeeping and should be stopped in time. For each pest, its own control methods have been developed and tested.
Insect class pests
Enemies of the insect class of bees are the most numerous and their impact on the bee colony and its life is also varied. Some insects destroy the hive, others feed on honey, and still others - on the bees themselves.
Parasites (lice braula)
Braul's louse is a wingless insect about 0.5-1.5 mm in size. It settles on the body of adult bees, queens and drones, infecting them with a disease called braulosis. She feeds on the honey burp of her master. Braulosis manifests itself in the fact that the uterus becomes disturbed by lice and sharply decreases egg production.
If the disease is severe, then the hive is quarantined to prevent further spread. Treatment is carried out with the drug "Phenothiazine", camphor, naphthalene or smoking tobacco smoke. The course consists of several sessions. It is necessary to cure sick families before the honey plant.
Ants
Forest dwellers like ants also love to feast on honey, therefore they are considered a sweet tooth and pests. There is a variety among them - red ants, aggressively attacking the bees themselves. Ants attack mainly weak bee colonies, eating their reserves, eggs, larvae.
A group of ants can carry up to 1 kg of honey per day.
How to get rid of ants in a bee hive
In the case when the ants attacked the hive, there is nothing left but to move the bees temporarily to another place. Fighting ants, in a hive with bees is impossible without harming the bees. After removing the bees, the house is cleaned of pests and put into proper form for further use: they eliminate unnecessary gaps, lubricate the legs of the houses with mineral oil.
How to deal with ants in an apiary
Before establishing an apiary, the territory is examined for the presence of anthills and hives are located away from ant dwellings. At least at a distance of 150-200 m. The fight against ants in the apiary consists in placing the legs of the hives in a container with water or kerosene.And also in laying out the leaves of garlic, tomato and mint to repel uninvited pests.
Anthills should not be destroyed if they are located at a great distance from the apiary. Ants are useful by working as orderlies for infectious diseases of bees, eating diseased insects and their corpses.
If the anthill is close to the apiary, and the ants in the hive harm the bees, then the anthill is cut off and poured with boiling water with a decoction of poisonous herbs or with kerosene.
Butterfly "Death's head"
A large moth with a wingspan of up to 12 cm from the Brazhnikov family is considered a pest, because it feeds on honey, penetrating into the hives through the cracks. The butterfly is called "Dead Head" (Acherontia Atropos) because of the pattern on the back, reminiscent of a skull with bones. In length it reaches 5-6 cm. In one night raid, the insect can eat from 5 to 10 g of honey.
Butterfly caterpillars eat the leaves of the nightshade, on which they live until they reach adulthood. The main methods of fighting the "Dead Head" are:
- catching individuals;
- destruction of caterpillars;
- installation of gratings on tap holes through which butterflies cannot pass.
Hornets, wasps
The worst pests of bees are wasps and hornets, which are real wasps. These insects not only eat the honey reserves in the hives, but also kill the bees. Attacks are made, as a rule, on weak families in the second half of the working summer. If the danger exists in the form of wasps or hornets, then the bees can stop paying bribes and start protecting the hive. Then the collection of honey will be significantly reduced.
Hornets attack bees not only in hives, but also outside, waiting for them while collecting nectar on a flower. They kill the gatherer bee, suck out the contents of its goiter, and feed the paralyzed corpse to its brood. The beekeeper must find uninvited guests in time, catch and destroy individuals of hornets and wasps, as well as their nests. For prevention, females are caught in the spring.
The most famous pest of bees among wasps is the philanthropist, or bee wolf. It is a solitary and very strong earthen wasp. As a larva, it feeds on paralyzed bees brought by a female philanthropist, and as an adult, it feeds on the nectar of flowers or the contents of the goiter of a collecting bee. The wasp lives for 24-30 days and kills about a hundred bees during its life. The main method of dealing with the wasp is the complete destruction of philanthropists and their nests around the apiary.
Other insect pests
There are other insects related to bee pests. You also need to know about them in order to protect your apiary when found. Here is a short description of the most common insect enemies:
- ham kozheedy settle in the hive and live all summer, laying the larvae and eating bee bread, frames, insulation material and brood;
- earwigs live in insulation, feeding on corpses and bee bread, because of which the combs are destroyed, they are also carriers of infectious diseases;
- spiders hunt bees, weaving a web not far from the house or in the hive or on a flower, they can destroy up to 7 individuals per day;
- various beetles (about 20 species), whose relatives are the pretense thief, feed on insulation, bee bread, honeycombs, and wooden parts of the hive.
Kozheedov survive with sulfur dioxide, having previously evicted bees. The earwig is removed along with the insulation. Spiders are destroyed along with cocoons and cocoons. It should be remembered that spiders are fearless pests. In addition to harm, they also bring benefits by killing wasps and hornets.
Animals
Some representatives of the animal world are also enemies of bees, because they destroy hives, eat honey and whole families. Therefore, the beekeeper must be able to prevent danger and protect the houses from the penetration of ill-wishers.
Rodents
Different types of rodents live everywhere and eat different types of food. They are potential pests for the apiary. Mice and shrews penetrate into hives in autumn and can live there all winter, using bee bread, honey, larvae as food.There are field mice, brownies, forest mice, and they all damage the bee colony by settling in its house. Bees cannot tolerate the smell of mice and will not live in the hive in which the mice lived.
To protect against mice, so that they do not gnaw the honeycomb, do not destroy the house from the inside, set traps, spread poisoned bait in the room where the hives winter.
Hedgehog
Harmless hedgehogs are also pests in the apiary. They penetrate the hives at night, when everyone is resting after a hard day's work and cannot provide a worthy opposition to the predator. Hedgehogs prefer to eat healthy bees and dead bees. It is impossible to kill hedgehogs, they are not considered great pests of the national economy. The only method of dealing with hedgehogs is to install houses at a height of more than 35 cm above the ground and create good ventilation in the hive so that the bees do not go out on the fly, where the hedgehog-hunter will be waiting for them.
Reptiles
The harm caused by frogs by eating bees is negligible compared to the benefits they bring from hunting different insects. Therefore, they are not considered pests. And no special measures to combat frogs have been invented. It is only necessary to install the apiary away from the water in a well-lit area and on high supports.
But lizards and toads feel great in the apiary, deftly hunting for beekeeping workers who have weighed down with the burden, and are considered pests. A lizard can catch 15-20 insects per day, and a toad even more. The beekeeper should not kill these animals. Bypassing the apiary, he can catch the lizard and carry it away from the hives. She couldn't find her way back.
Birds
Most birds, by destroying various insects, thereby benefit. But among them there are those who actively hunt bees. And they are considered pests.
These birds include:
- a bee-eater who prefers wasps, bumblebees, bees for food;
- the gray shrike is a very voracious bee hunter.
The methods of pest control are the same - scaring away through an amplifier with recorded bird calls, changing the location of the apiary.
Preventive measures
An experienced beekeeper knows that ensuring the health and well-being of the bees is the key to successful beekeeping. Therefore, he always monitors the behavior of his charges in order to take timely measures when dangerous pests are detected. Regular implementation of preventive measures helps to maintain the safe conduct of beekeeping:
- keeping only strong bee colonies;
- sufficient supply of food and heat to bees;
- periodic cleaning, drying, ventilation and repair of hives;
- drying insulation in the sun;
- lubrication of the legs of the houses in solid oil or kerosene;
- installation of an apiary away from water and anthills;
- periodic disinsection of the insulating material;
- sulphurous gas treatment of hives;
- installation of special barriers or nets on the tapholes to prevent pest penetration;
- mowing grass under the houses.
Conclusion
The damage that the enemies of bees can inflict on beekeeping can be irreparable and result in the death of bee colonies. To prevent this from happening, you need to know all potential pests and take the necessary measures in time. Then the apiary will bring the beekeeper not only benefit, but also pleasure from the work done.
