International Journal of Entomology Research

Authors
Muhammad Sarwar

Abstract
Like all living creatures, honeybees are subjected to attack at all stages of development by various insect enemies acting directly as predators or indirectly by disturbing of colony. This article deals with most common insect enemies of honeybee, describes their harmful effects and gives clear indication of means to protect hive and hive products. The most important of these enemies are those that destroy combs, stores, hive and some predators that take foraging worker as they leave hive, or those that behave as true parasites by raising their offspring in bodies of bees. Control of moth can be undertaken by damaged and invaded comb cut out, and weakened colonies united to strengthen them. It is advisable to maintain strong colonies and provide appropriate number of frames according to size of colony. To destroy insects in larval stage, infested combs must be removed from hives and fumigated with chemical products or subjected to high or low temperatures. It is recommended that apiaries be moved away from heavily infested areas so that adults are deprived of bees and local populations of predator are thus reduced. Although ants and yellow jackets are not usually serious pests of beehives, their presence may indicate colony weakness, however, they tend to bother apiarists more than they bother honey bees themselves. Ants can be controlled by treating their nests with an approved insecticide; as such materials are generally highly toxic to bees and should not be used close to hives. Single colonies can be placed on stands or benches protected by oil or sticky barriers to avoid roaches, earwigs, praying mantids, termites and lice. Colonies should be carefully inspected for signs of infestation, maintain healthy hives capable of protecting all comb hive and carefully inspect honey bee packages received from areas where beetles are established.