Bees are being destroyed
- Paulrottinghaus
- Posts: 1
- Joined: May 24th, 2017, 7:03 pm
Bees are being destroyed
Hi, I hope someone can suggest what might be going on here in Iowa on May 24, 2017. I checked my hives and the lids were covered with bee parts. Mostly abdomens. Like 2-3 dozen on the top of each hive. I have five hives. Two of which were walk away splits two weeks ago.
- Countryboy
- Forum Regular
- Posts: 605
- Joined: November 8th, 2010, 9:37 pm
- Location: Central Ohio
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Re: Bees are being destroyed
If I had to guess, I would say some kind of predatory insect was killing them. Praying mantises would be my first guess. I have seen praying mantises sitting on just about every single 5 frame mating nuc (20+) in a beeyard before, with some nucs having multiple praying mantises on it.
That mating yard consistently had 90%-95% mating success.
I never paid attention to whether or not there were bee parts from the mantises eating bees.
That mating yard consistently had 90%-95% mating success.
I never paid attention to whether or not there were bee parts from the mantises eating bees.
B. Farmer Honey
Central Ohio
Central Ohio