31 March 2025

Maggots in solitary Bee Nest?

Q. “Hi Jon. Would you mind having a look at the attached photos please and confirming they are maggots?! I took apart my bee house yesterday to clean and check the bee cocoons that had been laid last year. These were from the bee cocoons I purchased from you last year and they laid eggs which was nice to see! But I was gutted to see maggots in a couple of the slots! I Googled it and believe they are fly maggots?  I removed the maggots and affected areas and cleaned it up. I left the other slots that looked okay in hope bee’s will emerge soon. Thanks in advance. “ regards Matt

2nd Question. “Attached are photos of the cleaned trays with the ‘nests’ I’ve left as I think they are bee’s? As you’re the expert, would you mind confirming please? 🙂. I have the bee cocoons I bought from you the other week to put in ,but don’t want to do this until I know it’s ‘safe’!”

A. Thanks for the message and these are Houdini fly larvae and they are a known and quite common pest of bees, so you have done exactly the right thing by removing them and cleaning everything up. Houdini Flies lay their eggs within bee nests, where upon hatching, their larvae consume the pollen intended for developing bees and sometimes even prey on the bees themselves. The good news is the bundled up tubes of green leaves are the hard work of leaf cutter bees, so again you have done the right thing by leaving them alone. Well done. Kind regards Jon @ Green Gardener

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