# Bee eating insect



## USCBeeMan (Feb 7, 2009)

I have noticed some flying insects near my hives that I keep on a friends farm. The bugs are ugly and look like short fat dragon flies. Whenever I see one lit on a hive I have walked up to it and find a bee in it's mouth.

Don't know the name but I think a guy said if was a "fly catcher" or "fly killer". Either way, Google come us nada.

Anyone know what it is called and have a link to a picture? Unless they can eat a lot of bees and there are a huge amount of these critters I doubt that they can hurt the bee population at the hives.


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

I think your seeing a Robber Fly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asilidae


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## Panhandle Scott (Jul 11, 2009)

Sounds like robber flys....generally they are solitary whereas dragonflys albeit solitary in nature can cluster together and feed in the same area if enough food (insects) are present.

Don't think I have ever seen two robber flys in the same general area. I suspect the damage they are doing is very minimal. You probably have more bees whacked by cars, birds, hornets, dragonflys, etc.


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## USCBeeMan (Feb 7, 2009)

Yep. Robber Fly!!



Ugly sucker.

Glad dragon flies were mentioned. I use to not have many dragon flies around but now I have them everywhere in my yard. Started beekeeping last year and had 3 colonies in the yard and at the moment I have 12.

Anything I can do to slow down the dragon flies?


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## Panhandle Scott (Jul 11, 2009)

USCBeeMan said:


> Anything I can do to slow down the dragon flies?


Probably not, except maybe swinging at them with a tennis racket.

Even though they have some minimal impact on your hive population thay are overall a beneficial insect species, to bad we can't train them to climb into hives and eat beetles,


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## Spaghettify (Mar 24, 2013)

One of these landed on my shoulder today with one of my girls in it's mouth.......I wasn't fast enough....


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## GLOCK (Dec 29, 2009)

I have them around my bee yards to but I never seem them eating bees I will be looking for it.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

People say they can be an issue, but I've watched our biggest species (darners) and I see them knock a few bees down but even then bees seem a little large for them to handle, so I can't imagine the smaller species having much effect either.


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

*Re: Bee eating insects*

It would take a lot of assassin bugs/robber flies/dragonflies to make much of an impact on the population of even one strong hive.


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