Dragonflies

[Steel Tiger]

This year seems to be the year of the dragon... or at least the dragonfly. I have hundreds in the yard and out in the field. On the bright side, they cut down the population of the horseflies. This morning I went down to the hives for a quick look and a large dragonfly shot off a tree from behind the hives, looked as though it snatched a bee out of the air from the front of the hives, and buzzed back to it's tree.
 The dragonflies just started appearing within the last couple weeks. All sizes and colors. I'll be keeping an eye on the hives for the next few weeks to make sure they don't turn into dragonfly feeders.

[Moots]

We have a ton of Dragonflies around here, and I've noticed lots of them around my hives, all summer long.  I had read about them feeding on bees, I've seen where others have talked about them hovering outside of a hive and snatching bees....However, I'm yet to see a single dragonfly eat, attack, or interact with any of my  bees in any way. 

[BeeMaster2]

Like Moots, I have tons of dragon flies at the farm. I have never seen them right in front of the hives where they could catch the most bees. They are usually in the same field but well off to one side of it. I have seen another bug with a bee in its mouth, a bee catcher or a fly catcher, I forget its name.

I have found a dragonfly on my barb wire fence, it had impaled its self into a barb right through its eye. Also had a one inch house fly do the same thing.

Jim

[strider]

Indeed, they will take honeybees.  We have a number of dragon flies in the field with the bee hives and on occasion they will swoop in and pick one off.

[Dimmsdale]

I've seen them take a bee or two.  They will wait right on top of the box and zap a returning forager.  They are SO fast, if you blink, you will miss it.

[Kathyp]

i have a lot of them.  they lay their egg clusters in the bricks that are on top of my hives.  they do take bees but they are not a fraction of the problem that the swallows are.  sometimes it's like a Hitchcock movie out there.

[Finski]

.
Each hive looses 1000-2000 bees per day  in natural way, for age.
Same amount emerge every day.


I have about 20 great tits in my bee yard the whole winter along. Even them cannot destroy any hive.

.
Great Tit Singing

[JWChesnut]

i have a lot of them.  they lay their egg clusters in the bricks that are on top of my hives. 

Not Dragonfly, darner or damselfly eggs. I know Oregon is wet, but....  Dragonfly larvae are aquatic.  Most DF lay eggs directly on the water, some smaller relatives ovi-posit in emergent reed stems.

If you want to see a "horror movie" add dragonfly larvae to an acquarium.  They are voracious and effective predators.  They will decimate tadpoles and minnows.  Nature bloody in tooth and claw.

[Kathyp]

Not Dragonfly, darner or damselfly eggs. I know Oregon is wet, but....  Dragonfly larvae are aquatic

did not know that.  thanks!  maybe the adult were eating whatever was in those egg casings.  now i have to figure out what they are!

[Steel Tiger]

 I went out today and there was a large dark brown dragonfly zipping around chasing bees. It reminded me of a bat with the way it kept changing directions.

[Better.to.Bee.than.not]

I have about 20 great tits in my bee yard the whole winter along. Even them cannot destroy any hive.

Great Tit Singing

You have great tits? do the bees attack them? I haven't heard of honey bees attacking great tits especially ;)

[Michael Bush]

One of the more interesting things about that bird...

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/037663579400051H

[Better.to.Bee.than.not]

That points to a article "The opening of milk bottles by birds: Evidence for accelerating learning rates, but against the wave-of-advance model of cultural transmission" but is that all birds in the UK, or bottles being opened by great tits especially? I have heard of them landing on beer cans, but not about opening milk jugs. absolutely fascinating.

[Michael Bush]

>but is that all birds in the UK, or bottles being opened by great tits especially?

Just the great tits learned and taught others to do it.

[skatesailor]

If you watch carefully you will see guard bees following DF's in flight. I have also seen two or three bees following the tree swallows that work my hives over. The birds get one chance to swoop in and then the bees are on them. It's like watching fighter jets work over a bomber.

[Steel Tiger]

my bees are small, no match for a dragonfly. Luckily there are plenty of other insect for the dragonflies to go after. It helps split them up