Insects, Birds, Mammals, Amphibians… Microbes?
Animals consume bees for the brood or adults (most birds, insects) or hive stores (Mammals and some birds). Insects are the first predators that come to mind, either parasitising their host with eggs or consuming them completely. Then come the spiders, birds, reptiles, mammals… the list goes on. The honey bee colony is a source of high nutrition for predatory species, with each hive component attracting a different type of hunter.
Common Honey Bee Predators
Predator distribution differs worldwide, with other insects and spiders being the most common. The rule of thumb is as follows: there are many more arthropods than birds, mammals or amphibians, so they become the most common predators. Despite a larger number of microbial species, there are few honey bee diseases, assuming you agree with this author’s viewpoint of microorganisms as “predators”. A broad predator overview, separated by region is provided within.
Wasp, Bear & Bird Predators in Asia
In Asia, wasps and hornets are the major insect predators, such as Vespa mandarinia, the Asian Giant hornet located in the far east region. The Asian honey bee, Apis cerana can defend against wasp & hornet predators using heat balling techniques, but A. mellifera colonies lack this adaption and collapse under sustained attacks.
The Asiatic black bear Ursus thibetanus raid beehives (and ant colonies) to consume stores and larvae, disrupting or destroying entire apiaries for a meal (Furusaka et al., 2017). These attacks are more common in the spring where bears require a high protein diet for increased energy and body mass- otherwise they consume plant material for their day-to-day nutrition. To manage bear attacks, beekeepers install electric fences around the apiary to deter any prospective hunter, but this is not always successful.
“Bee-eaters” are true to their name, and more. These birds in the Meropidae family catch flying insects beyond bees. The European species has a diet consisting of mainly bees and other stinging Hymenoptera. To avoid being stung, the bird will grab the end of the abdomen with the tip of its bill and rub it vigorously against a branch several times to squeeze the venom out of the venom gland, removing it and keeping the stinger intact1, Yum.
Badger, Bear and Bird Predators in Europe
The honey buzzards Pernis apivorus feed on Hymenopetran larvae and will target bee colonies if given the opportunity, preferring wasps and hornets over bees though. Bee eaters (family Meropidae) native to Europe also consume bees and other stinging hymenoptera, as above.
Bears again. Like U. thibetanus, the European brown bear Ursus arctos is a honey bee predator. They are attracted to hives primarily for the honey and also consume the bees and larvae. I couldn’t find any literature supporting these claims, however the image above is enough vindication of bear attacks.
The European badger Meles meles shows preference for bumble bee hives over honey bees, eating the honey and bee larvae from hives. Although bumble bees make up a small percentage of the badger diet, they are a predator species that can destroy colonies (Roberts et al., 2020).
What Eats Honey Bees in Australia?
Another bee eater species, the Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus) consumes A. mellifera in Australia. M. orantus had consumed beetles, moths, flies and other flying insects, prior to the arrival of the honey bee, adding A. mellifera to the diet after its introduction in the 19th century.
The cane toad Rhinella marina is an invasive species that uses a sit-and-wait approach to predation. They eat anything anything that fits in their mouths and moves within their striking range. Native frogs consumed bees less frequently than toads (Silvester et al., 2018). Cane toads prey on honey bees when they visit flowers near the ground, during water collection or right outside their hives.
In the aforementioned study by Silvester and colleagues, they observe toads attacking the guard bees walking along the hive entrance, or upwards on the hive box. Female toads were more prevalent and more successful in their predation attempts compared to males and juveniles, perhaps consuming bees as a source of energy in preparation for egg laying?
Africianised Bees Altered Predator-Prey Dynamics in the Americas
In the Americas, the invasion of the Africanised honey bees shifted the predator-prey relationship with the established A. mellifera populations and their predators. Africanised bees are more aggressive defenders of their colonies than their European counterparts, changing the interactions with local predators.
Native bird species (eg Piranga rubra, the summer tanager), mammals (bears, skunks, badgers), and insect (wasps, hornets, moths…) that prey on bees need to adapt against the heightened defensive strategies of the Africanised colonies for a successful meal (Schneider et al., 2004).
Skunks and Bear Predators
Yes, the American black and grizzly bears prey on beehives for honey and brood. Skunks (Genus Memphitis) attack beehives at night, scratching hive walls and causing guard bees to investigate. Once out, they are eaten. Other than reducing the adult bee population, skunks also stress the overall colony, making it more vulnerable to other ailments. Like cane toads, solutions for skunk management are to raise hives at least 45 centimeters off the ground, since they are not great climbers, nor will they risk exposing their soft belly to the bees’ stingers.
Birds, Ants and Humans – Predators in Africa
Many of the species covered above are also applicable in Africa – bee eating birds (various bee-eater species), badgers (Mellivora capensis) and also humans themselves, with indigenous populations consuming the brood, honey and pollen of wild bee nests.
From the insects, Adgaba and colleagues state that ants are the most serious and widespread natural enemies of honey bees, with persistent attacks leading to colonies absconding (Adgaba et al., 2014). The driver ant (Dorylus species), attack at night when bees are least active, carrying off brood, hive stores and the adult honey bees. The authors suggest that biological control using Crematogaster chiarinii tree ant colonies, emphasising that defending honey bee colonies from ant attacks is the most expensive (and intensive) task to the African beekeeper.
Honey Hunting as a Cooperation Between Man and Wild Birds
The Greater Honeyguide (Indicator indicator) is a wild bird sharing a mutualistic relationship with humans, whereby they lead hunters to beehives (Spottiswoode et al., 2016). The humans consume the honey and brood, whilst the bird eats the wax, larvae, and sometimes adult bees – a really fascinating rabbithole to go down.
The bird flies from tree to tree with agitated chattery, “piping” calls in the direction of the bees’ nest until its human follower finds the nest. Most guiders are juveniles or sub-adults (“teenagers”), as many adults do not (usually) guide2. In the aforementioned study, a specific call by the Yao people of Mozambique (“Brr-hmmm”) greatly increased the chances of attracting a honeyguide leading them to bees in trees. The hunters consume the hive stores, and the discarded wax is picked up by the honeyguide.
Honey Bee Pests and Diseases
For urban beekeepers, pests and diseases are the biggest danger to bees- Varroa mites to chalkbrood to wax moths. Their impacts have been linked to colony collapse disorder, and disease management is a big business. A (non-exhaustive) list of the honey bees’ pests and diseases is provided below, with articles interlinked for further reading.
Mites and insects:
- Varroa mites, Tropilaelaps mites, Tracheal mites.
- Braula flies.
- Wax moths.
- Small Hive Beetles.
- Other honey bees3
Bacterial diseases:
- European Foulbrood, which affects developing larvae and is treatable with antibiotics.
- American Foulbrood, also affects developing larvae with treatment being death by fire, or irradiation of empty hive components.
Fungal & microsporidian diseases:
Viral diseases:
- Deformed Wing Virus.
- Sacbrood Virus.
- Acute & chronic bee paralysis virus, Black queen cell virus, Israeli acute bee paralysis virus… the viral list goes on.
Other Dangers to Honey Bee Colonies
Pesticides are a major danger facing bees – the increase in commercial agriculture leads to increased use of pesticides, which are either lethal at high dosage or have long term colony health impacts at lower, sublethal levels. The neonicotinoids insecticides are currently in the spotlight for their sublethal effects. Other herbicides and fungicides have sublethal effects on bees despite not targeting insects, and this is thought to be due to changes in their gut microbiota.
Perhaps no longer relevant to honey bees, however habitat loss as a result of human expansion – agriculture, ubranisation etc… reduce the availability of foraging resources and nesting sites for bees, affecting their ability to sustain healthy populations. This is particularly true for solitary and native bees, many of which are specialised foragers (“oligolectic”), or require specific habitats to form their nests.
Climate change generates multiple issues – Changes in climate patterns disrupt the synchrony between bee emergence from their winter dormancy and the availability of floral resources (I wonder if this will make supplemental feeding in spring a necessity rather than an optionality?). Extreme weather events, temperature fluctuations, and altered rainfall patterns further disrupt the bee-flower dynamics, and entire books can be (and probably have been) written on the biological impacts of the changing climate.
What are the Predators of Bumble Bees?
A tangent to the other well-known eusocial bee species. In general, the predators of bumble bees are similar to honey bees. After all, birds, badgers, spiders, and toads are no entomologists and do not check what type of bee it is before eating. What they have are specialised predators, namely the cuckoo bees and the robber flies.
Bumble Bee Robber Fly Mimic
Mallophora bomboides is a species of robber fly that visually mimics bumble bees (in particular, Bombus americanorum, now Bombus pensylvanicus), getting close enough to prey on them. By the time a bee determines that this is a predator, she would have been captured and taken away. This form of aggressive mimicry allows the robber fly to blend in with bumble bee populations and attack them more easily.
A photo of a robber fly is presented below – you can see the similarities between it and a bumble bee, and how much more hairier.
A Honey Bee Eating Robber Fly
The University of Florida lists three robber flies (“bee killers”) occurring in the state, with M. orcina having a diet of 80% honey bees. The species has around 20 members, distributed across the southern united states. Florida is one of the states that reports colony loses from over-predation by robber flies (Bromley, 1950).
Cuckoo Bumble Bees
Cuckoo bumble bees (subgenus Psithyrus) invade the nests of other bumble bees to lay eggs (reviewed in Lhomme & Hines, 2019). The host bumble bee workers unknowingly rear the parasitic bee’s offspring, which grow by consuming the colony’s resources, including the host larvae. These parasitic bumble bees have lost the ability to construct nests and produce an infertile worker casts, so when a cuckoo bumble bee successfully overcomes the host queen, she begins laying the reproductive males and females.
Cuckoo bumble bee females appear after the bumble bee queens have established their nests and raised the first generation of workers, later in spring. Upon emerging, they locate a nest, attempt to overpower the queen (and some of her workers), then lay eggs. In general, cuckoo bees have a much shorter lifecycle compared to their host, and the reproductive castes are reared from early to mid-summer. These females leave the nest to mate, then hibernate until next spring, beginning the cycle anew.
Lhomme & Hines describe the Psithyrus bumble bees as the most extreme form of parasitism, as these species are no longer able to produce a worker castes, and lack corbiculae (pollen baskets), being unable to forage for their own larvae. The host workers must do all the work until the colony collapses from a lack of new worker bees.
Three other “tiers” of cuckoo parasitism exist, each less extreme than the other – in general, these bees either usurp nests from their own species, or use the host’s workers as assistants in rearing their brood – they still carry pollen baskets, and can thus forage for their young alongside the conquered host.
Cuckoo Bees as Predators
Stretching the definition of predator further, the kleptoparasitic behaviour (“parasites that steal”) of cuckoo bees can be considered predatory as it results in the consumption of host resources and their offspring. This reduces the survival and reproduction of the subsequent generation of the host species, leading to their decline. See how this counts as predation? A separate article will discuss cuckoo bees and their behaviours.
Solitary Bees and Predation
We end by discussing the predators of solitary bees. As above, a general scheme is given, since solitary bee species are many.
Several species of wasps, including both social predatory wasps and parasitiod (wasps whose larvae develop inside the host and eventually kill them) prey on solitary bees. Some wasps are like cuckoo bees, invading nests to lay their eggs directly in the bee’s brood cells, whereby the wasp larvae eat the host bee larvae and their stores.
Robber flies, like the bee killer flies listed above, also attack solitary bees. They capture a bee in flight, inject it with saliva that liquefies the bee’s internal organs, and then consuming them. The same spiders that prey on honey bees also prey on other bees. Shocker, I know. Spider species catch solitary bees in their webs or ambush them on flowers. Crab spiders (Thomisus spectabilis) belong to the latter category, camouflaging themselves within flowers to catch unsuspecting pollinators.
Read the whole post and found puns, typos mistakes? Voice your displeasure with a strongly-worded message to admin@tgbee.com.au, or by filling this form.
Footnotes
- Onofre and colleagues (2023) are exploring whether the bee eaters can act as a bio-control agent of invasive Yellow-Legged hornets in Europe. The authors argue that the current limitations are climate and mating/migratory patterns of the bird relative to the wasps. I would also add that control would be more effective in areas without large concentrations of commercial beehives. ↩︎
- Why don’t adult honeyguides guide? A quick response could be because their modified dietary preferences, or “risk avoidance”. One study from Woods and colleagues found that the Hadza people of Northern Tanzania did not reward honeyguides after a nest was found (not once in the 18 [of 40] successful guidance to A. mellifera nests) with the “intent of keeping the bird hungry and thus more likely to guide again” (Wood et al., 2014).
From this observation, I can suggest that adult honeyguides do not guide because they’ve learnt to do better, whereas juveniles are still learning and like us, believe “this time is different”. Of course, this suggestion does not hold up when the Yao people are involved, as they “deliberately reward honeyguides from harvested bees’ nests” (discussed in Lloyd-Jones, Muamedi & Spottiswoode, 2025, who also report instance of adult birds guiding honeyhunters to a non-bee animal… give it a read) ↩︎ - Other honey bees should not surprise you, since Apis species compete with one another for similar forage. Consider the Asian honey bee A. cerana – in one year, it will swarm up to six times, compared to the one or two swarms of A. mellifera, who may be left with second-rate trees to establish their beehives. Honourable mention to the parthenogenic Cape honey bee subspecies (A. mellifera capensis), whose laying workers can cause a host colony to kill their original queen, or not rear any new queens – the colony later collapses as the parasitic worker leaves or dies. ↩︎