- To treat common mites, beekeepers coat their bees in powdered sugar. This kills the mites but doesn’t hurt the bees, and they will clean it off anyway. It does, however, make them look like tiny bee ghosts until they groom themselves.
- Skunks are natural predators of bees. They will grab a mouthful of bees and suck the juices out before spitting out the bees’ carcasses. To keep the skunks from doing this, beekeepers will build their hives high enough that the skunks have to reach their front paws up to get to the hives. This way, their bellies are exposed and the bees are able to fight back and sting them. Either way, bees die.
- Bees are curious, and they may follow you around for a while just to see what you’re doing. Most bees will trail you for a yard or two, but one breed will stalk you for up to half a mile.