The question of whether bees eat other bees involves complex insect behavior within the highly social structure of a honey bee colony. Honey bees, like most bee species, are fundamentally herbivores, relying on plant resources for sustenance and survival. Direct predation of one bee by another is not a standard part of their life cycle. However, intense pressures of colony life, including disease management and resource scarcity, introduce exceptions to this plant-based diet. These exceptions lead to specific, intentional acts of consuming their own kind. Cannibalism in a hive is less about predatory instinct and more about sophisticated resource allocation and colony health.
Is Cannibalism Common Among Adult Bees
Adult bees generally do not treat other living or dead adults as a food source. Mature honey bees primarily consume nectar or honey for carbohydrates and are physically adapted for a liquid diet. They lack the strong chewing mandibles needed to consume a whole insect body, making the breakdown of the chitinous exoskeleton impractical as a nutritional strategy. In extremely rare instances, if a worker bee dies with a honey-filled crop, the sugary contents might be consumed by other workers. This is consumption of stored food, not the bee itself. The primary response to a deceased adult is rapid removal from the colony, a hygienic behavior designed to prevent the spread of disease.
Culling the Brood
The most common and significant form of cannibalism in a honey bee colony is the intentional culling of the brood, which includes eggs, larvae, or pupae. Worker bees engage in this behavior as a calculated management strategy, often consuming their younger siblings to maintain the colony’s overall fitness. This form of cannibalism is directly tied to the nutritional needs of the hive, particularly the demand for protein.
If foraging conditions are poor and the supply of protein-rich pollen is insufficient, nurse bees resort to consuming the developing brood. Consuming a larva provides a concentrated source of protein and fat that can be recycled to sustain the nurse bees or feed a smaller number of remaining larvae.
Culling is also a major component of the colony’s immune system, known as hygienic behavior. Workers detect and remove brood that is diseased or infested with parasites, such as the Varroa destructor mite. They eliminate the pathogen source by uncapping the cell and consuming the infected pupa or larva before it can reproduce and spread throughout the hive.
The Primary Food Source
The occasional acts of cannibalism stand in sharp contrast to the standard, plant-based diet that sustains the entire colony. Honey bees collect and process two main resources from flowering plants: nectar and pollen. Nectar, a sugar-water solution, is collected for its carbohydrates, providing the energy required for flight, heating, and hive maintenance.
Pollen is the sole source of protein, lipids, vitamins, and minerals for the colony, making it the most important component for growth. Worker bees mix pollen with nectar and digestive enzymes to create “bee bread,” which is fed to the larvae and young adults. This high protein content is necessary to develop the specialized glands used by nurse bees to produce royal jelly and brood food.
How Hives Manage Dead Bees
When an adult bee dies within the hive, the colony activates a specialized hygienic process called necrophoresis, which is a form of social immunity. This process is performed by a dedicated cohort of middle-aged workers known as undertaker bees. These bees are responsible for detecting and removing dead nestmates to prevent the buildup of pathogens inside the enclosed nest cavity.
Undertaker bees identify a deceased worker by a change in its chemical signature, specifically the loss or reduction of certain cuticular hydrocarbons. Once the corpse is identified, the undertaker bee grasps it with its mandibles and flies a significant distance away from the hive before dropping the body. This removal process, rather than consumption, ensures the colony’s cleanliness and overall health.