Editing Bee (section)

===Predators, parasites and pathogens===
{{further|Diseases of the honey bee}}
[[File:Pair of Merops apiaster feeding detail.jpg|thumb|right|The bee-eater, ''[[Merops apiaster]]'', specializes in feeding on bees; here a male catches a nuptial gift for his mate.]]

Vertebrate predators of bees include [[bee-eater]]s, [[shrikes]] and [[Old World flycatcher|flycatcher]]s, which make short sallies to catch insects in flight.<ref name="ChittkaThomson2001"/> Swifts and swallows<ref name="ChittkaThomson2001"/> fly almost continually, catching insects as they go. The [[Pernis (bird)|honey buzzard]] attacks bees' nests and eats the larvae.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/26/hornet-attacks-kill-18-china | work=The Guardian | title=Hornet attacks kill dozens in China | date=26 September 2013 | access-date=18 June 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906191229/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/26/hornet-attacks-kill-18-china | archive-date=6 September 2015}}</ref> The [[greater honeyguide]] interacts with humans by guiding them to the nests of wild bees. The humans break open the nests and take the honey and the bird feeds on the larvae and the wax.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Friedmann, Herbert |year=1955 |title=The Honey-Guides |journal=Bulletin of the United States National Museum |doi=10.5479/si.03629236.208.1 |pages=1–292 |issue=208|hdl=10088/10101 }}</ref> Among mammals, predators such as the [[badger]] dig up bumblebee nests and eat both the larvae and any stored food.<ref>{{cite web |title=What predators do bumblebees have? |url=http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/faqs/bumblebee-predators/ |publisher=Bumblebee Conservation Trust |access-date=29 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629025444/http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/faqs/bumblebee-predators/ |archive-date=29 June 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Wasp and bee August 2008-2.jpg|thumb|left|The beewolf ''[[Philanthus triangulum]]'' paralysing a bee with its sting]]

Specialist ambush predators of visitors to flowers include [[crab spiders]], which wait on flowering plants for pollinating insects; [[Hemiptera|predatory bugs]], and [[praying mantis]]es,<ref name="ChittkaThomson2001">{{cite book |last1=Chittka |first1=Lars |last2=Thomson |first2=James D. |title=Cognitive Ecology of Pollination: Animal Behaviour and Floral Evolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2Km4B6n-mQC&pg=PA215 |date=28 May 2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-43004-3 |pages=215–216 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224104844/https://books.google.com/books?id=g2Km4B6n-mQC&pg=PA215 |archive-date=24 December 2016}}</ref> some of which (the [[flower mantis]]es of the tropics) wait motionless, [[aggressive mimicry|aggressive mimics]] camouflaged as flowers.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Choi |first1=Charles Q. |title=Found! First Known Predator To Lure Prey By Mimicking Flowers |url=http://www.livescience.com/41605-predator-lures-prey-by-mimicking-flowers.html |publisher=LiveScience |access-date=2 July 2015 |date=30 November 2013 |quote=the color of the orchid mantis was indistinguishable from 13 species of wild flowers in the areas the predator lived. ... The orchid mantis is unique in that the mantis itself is the attractive stimulus. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630181114/http://www.livescience.com/41605-predator-lures-prey-by-mimicking-flowers.html |archive-date=30 June 2015}}</ref> [[Beewolf|Beewolves]] are large wasps that habitually attack bees;<ref name="ChittkaThomson2001"/> the [[ethologist]] [[Niko Tinbergen]] estimated that a single colony of the beewolf ''[[Philanthus triangulum]]'' might kill several thousand honeybees in a day: all the prey he observed were honeybees.<ref>{{cite book | author=Tinbergen, Niko | title=Curious Naturalists | publisher=Methuen | year=1958 | page=21}}</ref> Other predatory insects that sometimes catch bees include [[Asilidae|robber flies]] and [[dragonfly|dragonflies]].<ref name="ChittkaThomson2001"/> Honey bees are affected by parasites including [[Acarapis woodi|tracheal]] and ''[[Varroa]]'' [[mite]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Honey Bee Disorders: Honey Bee Parasites |url=http://www.ent.uga.edu/bees/disorders/honey-bee-parasites.html |publisher=University of Georgia |access-date=29 June 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701225054/http://www.ent.uga.edu/bees/disorders/honey-bee-parasites.html |archive-date=1 July 2015}}</ref> However, some bees are believed to have a mutualistic relationship with mites.<ref name="Pavel B 2007"/>

Some mites of genus ''[[Tarsonemus]]'' are associated with bees. They live in bee nests and ride on adult bees for dispersal. They are presumed to feed on fungi, nest materials or pollen. However, the impact they have on bees remains uncertain.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tarsonemus {{!}} Bee Mite ID |url=http://idtools.org/id/mites/beemites/factsheet.php?name=15293 |access-date=25 August 2022 |website=idtools.org}}</ref>