Are Bee Flies Bad For Honey Bees?

Bee flies are insects that feed on the pollen of plants. They live in warm and dry areas and tend to stay close to the ground. When the weather is cold, bee flies may even spend the night in trees to warm up. When they become chilly, they may perch with their abdomen pointed upwards, quivering their wing muscles to warm their thorax. This allows them to feed without alerting predators.

Bee flies are not harmful to humans, and they are helpful to the environment. Their larvae are parasitic on solitary bees and wasps. In addition to parasitizing bees, they also play a role in pollination. In fact, bee flies are an important part of the insect population, because they help pollination.

Bee flies aren’t harmful to humans, but they can be problematic for honey bees. Adult Bombylius flies live in a honey bee colony, where they feed on the nectar and pollen of the bee larvae. They are not a serious threat to commercial beekeeping, but their larvae may cause damage to the wax cappings on the honey comb. Adult bees, meanwhile, will sometimes steal small amounts of honey from their hosts. These flies are widely distributed and have been reported on all continents except Antarctica and mainland Australia.

The Bombyliidae are one of the largest families of insects, with over 5,000 species worldwide. While their larvae are parasitic on plants, their adults feed on pollen and nectar and are considered important pollinators. They occur on all continents, except Antarctica, and are most abundant in semi-arid regions.