Eli5: If ants love sugar, and bees make honey, why aren’t bee hives constantly attacked by ants?
In: Other
Because the bees will murder the ants. Bees are much bigger and will bite an ant in two without much trouble. And there are up to tens of thousands of bees in a big hive.
Ants are constantly trying to attack beehives. Other bees and insects will also try to attack the beehives. This is why a large number of bees is dedicated to protecting their hives from these intruders.
If people like money why aren’t banks constantly robbed. It’s because very bad things will happen to you if you try. Bees are a good bit bigger than ants and will kill any ant that tries to get into the hive.
As someone with Beehives I can tell you they very much do. If you have a strong hive they manage to keep the ants out. If they’re weaker, or for example, you give them too much space when there are too few bees, then ants can and will steal the honey.
And God forbid you drop a little bit of it in your kitchen…
Ever try to take honey from a bee without a bee keeping suit? Ants don’t have bee keeping suits.
Beekeeper here. Beehives are constantly attacked by ants, but are pretty good at defending the hive. Fun fact, there are certain microscopic mites that can destroy a hive. However, fire any colonies near the hive can control mite populations that lay eggs in the ground near the hive. So actually, ants can be good for bee populations
Bee hives are under constant attack, a healthy hive will have guard bees at the entrance to block invaders. A weak or dying hive will very quickly get robbed by bees from other hives, cockroaches, wax moth, and all kinds of other insects that want to eat the honey, the larva or even the wax.
I have endless struggles with this. Especially the smaller ants. Some are so small that the bees don’t even bother to stop them. I use diatomaceous earth to make a barrier around the hive, but the rain washes it away readily.
Humans love money, banks hold a lot of money, why aren’t banks constantly attacked by humans?
In some southern states beekeepers will actually put the leg stands of some raised hives in containers of water to prevent small insects that will rob a weakened hive. In theory the water will prevent small insects from reaching the stand legs and crawling up into the hive.
Source: I am a beekeeper
Latest Answers