@homers_honeybee: Praying mantises don’t need to get inside a beehive to catch a honeybee. Sometimes all they need is a good place to wait. 🐝👀 We spotted this one on a frame we’d pulled from a colony, watching the bees move around it. It was looking for an opportunity to grab its next meal. Praying mantises are ambush predators. They use camouflage and patience to stay unnoticed, then strike with powerful, spined front legs when prey gets close enough. Honeybees are on the menu, along with flies, moths, grasshoppers, and plenty of other insects. Around an apiary, a mantis might perch on vegetation, hive equipment, or near an entrance where bees regularly fly past. But unlike wax moths or Varroa mites, praying mantises don’t infest the colony or live inside the hive. They’re simply taking advantage of a busy place to hunt. Should beekeepers be concerned? Usually not. One mantis may catch individual workers, but a healthy colony contains thousands of bees, and occasional predation is generally not a colony-level threat. There’s another interesting twist: while mantises eat some garden pests, they aren’t picky. They can also catch butterflies, native bees, and other beneficial insects. Even after years working with honeybees, moments like this remind us that an apiary is part of a much bigger food web. 🐝 Have you ever caught a praying mantis hunting around your hives? Would you leave it or move it? Follow for more close-up encounters and real-life beekeeping education. #PrayingMantis #Honeybees #Beekeeping #apiary #natureinfocus

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Thursday 22 October 2026 18:54:44 GMT