Parasitic Bee

Facts about Parasitic bees, Parasitic bees or also called cuckoo bee. Normally, the term parasitic bee is not used to describe specific genera or species, but a generalized term that is used to describe a different kind of bee that is distinguished by its social behavior. As the name really suggest, Parasitic Bees are a kind of bee that don’t have the special features that will enable them collect pollen or nectar, the food they actually depend on their whole lives. This disability makes the parasitic Bees to intrude into nests of other bee species that can collect their own food and also provide for the young ones.

Practically we do not describe the Parasitic Bee as they vary with species and families. In that case different species will probably have different physical description. Something common about most bees in this category is that they lack pollen collecting structure a very serious matter considering it has to survive.

Just to clarify the cuckoo bee is a name that is used to define a variety of bee lineages that have evolved parasitic behavior, some of which include;- laying their eggs in nests of other bees in the same species or some other cases invade nests of bees in other species, invading nests of another colony and might stick around for a longer time especially the winter seasons, they also eat the pollen and nectar that the host bee had stored.

Parasitic Bees can further be classified into two categories. The social parasites this means they cohabit with the host bee of the nest, and the brood parasites that will lay its egg in an organized brood cell (this means that the cell is already filled with pollen and nectar that when the egg hatches, the larvae has enough food to sustain its development to an adult)

The larvae of the parasitic bee in the host’s nest develop first and then feed on all the pollen and nectar that was initially stocked for the hosts larvae. When the egg of the host queen bee hatches and finds no food it starves to death. At times the young Parasitic Bee feeds on the larvae of the host bee.

Some varieties of the Parasitic Bee are quite aggressive. The parasitic type that move in social groups and can sting humans in case they are disturbed. Others bees will invade the nests of other bees aggressively attacking the host bee workers, and will also sting the host queen bee.

Just as there are bees that prefer nesting in trees and woods while others prefer ground nests, the parasitic bees have the different variety.

Mason bees and leafcutter bees have parasitic bees, they are generally cleptoparasites meaning they lay their egg in hosts and at times they also kill the larvae of the host bee.

Most of the parasitic don’t have specialized structures to collect pollen and nectar so they will spend most of their time searching for nests to invade, this makes them not visit flowers and therefore play little or no role in pollination of plants.

Considering they depend on nectar and pollen for food it is the only way they can survive especially during the winter season.There are three types of bees in the Parasitic bee hive, a Drone, Worker and the Queen. A worker bee will die if she uses her stinger.
The hind legs of the Parasitic bees carry pollen in them and it is called a pollen baskets. Pollen is the protein for which the baby bee needs to grow.
A Parasitic bee has two stomachs, the first stomach is for eating and the other stomach is specially designed for storing nectar collected from flowers and water, for making it possible to carry it back to the hive.

(Hymenoptera) means -membranous wings- this large variety of insects have four transparent wings and the females typically have a sting. includes ants, bees, wasps, horntails, and sawflies.


Parasitic bees fall in the classification of insects with six legs. Bees have five eyes; three tiny ocelli eyes and two compound eyes.
The Parasitic bees have four stages of life, Eggs, Larvae, Pupae and Full grown Bee. "Fear of bees apiphobia".