Editing Bee-eater (section)

==== Predation of honey bees ====
[[File:Colonie de prigorii (Merops apiaster) vandalizată de apicultori.jpg|thumb|right|Bee-eater colony destroyed by bee-keepers. The entrances into the bee eater's nests were deliberately blocked with stones]]

If an [[apiary]] is set up close to a bee-eater colony, a larger number of honey bees are eaten because they are more abundant. However, studies show the bee-eaters do not intentionally fly into the apiary, rather they feed on the insects caught on pastures and meadows within a radius of {{convert|12|km|mi|abbr=on}} from the colony, this maximum distance being reached only when there is a shortage of food. Observations show that the birds actually enter the apiary only in cold and rainy periods, when the bees do not leave the hive and other insect prey are harder for the bee-eaters to detect.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sor.ro/ro/noutati/Prigonirea-prigoriei-Mituri-si-adevaruri-despre-albine-si-albinarel.html|title=Prigonirea prigoriei. [Myths and truths about honey bees and bee eaters ]|publisher=Romanian Ornithological Society|language=ro|access-date=2018-06-27|archive-date=2018-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627144415/https://sor.ro/ro/noutati/Prigonirea-prigoriei-Mituri-si-adevaruri-despre-albine-si-albinarel.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Many [[bee-keeper]]s believe that the bee-eaters are the main obstacle causing worker bees not to forage, and instead stay inside the hives for much of the day between May and the end of August. However, a study carried out in a [[eucalyptus]] forest in the Alaluas region in the [[Murqub District]] in Libya, {{convert|80|km|mi|abbr=on}} east of [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]], showed that the bee-eaters were not the main obstacle to bee foraging; in some cases, the foraging rate was higher in the presence of the birds than in their absence. The average bird meal consisted of 90.8% honey bees and 9.2% beetles.<ref>{{cite web|last=Alfallah|first=H.M|url=http://www.moa.gov.cy/moa/da/ead/ead.nsf/0/6722A01C440AA5EDC2257B1D003949BC/$file/Bee-eaters-Bee-Keepers.pdf|title=The impact of the Bee-eater ''Merops apiaster'' on the behavior of honey bee ''Apis mellifera'' L. during foraging|publisher=Mansoura Journal of Plant Protection and Pathology, 1(12): 1023–1030|access-date=2018-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627144323/http://www.moa.gov.cy/moa/da/ead/ead.nsf/0/6722A01C440AA5EDC2257B1D003949BC/$file/Bee-eaters-Bee-Keepers.pdf|archive-date=2018-06-27|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Predation is more likely when the bees are queening or during the peak of migration, from late March till mid-April, and in mid-September. Hives close to or under trees or overhead cables are at increased risk as the birds pounce on flying insects from these perches.<ref name=toM >{{cite news | last = Carabott| first = Sarah| title =Bee-eater is not to blame for decline in honey bees | newspaper = Times of Malta| location = Valletta| date = 2015-10-26| url = https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20151026/local/bee-eater-is-not-to-blame-for-decline-in-honey-bees.589691| access-date = 2018-06-27}}</ref>