The next time I see a bee, I will know that it probably is not out to drive me crazy but rather it is busy doing its very important job for our ecosystem. Bees do have many enemies even though it may not seem that way. Animals such as bears and Argentine ants may destroy a hive in search of honey. By eating the wax in a honeycomb of a weak colony, the wax moth may also ruin it. Animals prey upon individual honey bees which sometimes may weaken colonies.
Honey bees are subject to parasites and diseases.
Two widespread contagious bacterial diseases called American and European foulbrood attack the bee larvae. Nosema , a protozoan parasite, and virus, can cause dysentery and paralysis in adult bees. Mites, also called honey bee mites, have destroyed thousands of hives in Asia, Europe, and North and South America. Thousands of bees are killed each year by insecticides meant to kill other insects. Weed sprays destroy an important source of food for the bees by killing weeds and their flowers.