BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Other BackYard Poultry › Ducks › Do ducks eat bees?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Do ducks eat bees?

post #1 of 6
Thread Starter 

I'm curious if ducks eat bees, wasps, yellow jackets, etc.  I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere. We have a number of plants in the backyard that attract bees and just wondering if I will need to move or give them away (plants not ducks....lol).  We don't have ducks yet but are trying to get our ducks in a row so to speak before we get some. Thank you.

Chickenhead in Portland
Reply
Chickenhead in Portland
Reply
post #2 of 6

Hmmm...I can't say for sure, but we have lots of bees and wasps and as far as I can tell our ducks do NOT eat them.  At least not enough of them to diminish their populations! 

(They could eat the wasps and that would be alright with me. big_smile)

Wife, chicken healer, goat jungle-gym and supreme dog boss.
Reply
Wife, chicken healer, goat jungle-gym and supreme dog boss.
Reply
post #3 of 6

I've never seen my ducks actually eat a bee, but they sure do chase them around when they see them!

Sweetfolly Flowers & Feathers       Changed Username from "Annarie"!
Waterfowl: Bibbed, Magpie, and Ancona Call Ducks in Blue, Black, Chocolate, and Lilac; and a mixed free-ranging flock of Dutch Hookbills, Khaki Campbells, Anconas, and Magpies. 
Chickens: Columbian Bantam Cochins

Reply

Sweetfolly Flowers & Feathers       Changed Username from "Annarie"!
Waterfowl: Bibbed, Magpie, and Ancona Call Ducks in Blue, Black, Chocolate, and Lilac; and a mixed free-ranging flock of Dutch Hookbills, Khaki Campbells, Anconas, and Magpies. 
Chickens: Columbian Bantam Cochins

Reply
post #4 of 6

Bees and ducks can cohabitate just fine.  Mine catch them when they land in the water, but otherwise, not so much.  Lots of chasing.  Not much catching.  When something a little bigger, like a yellow jacket, gets falls in the pool, they go nuts.  We call it "going pirhana" at my house. big_smile

post #5 of 6

Mine stand by our beehives and eat the honeybees. Not enough to make a difference, though, which is why I haven't bothered to fence them out of there. Also not enough to make a difference in the enormous yellow jacket population we have this year--I can't walk in the backyard without stepping all over yellow jackets, it seems like. Luckily, no one's been stung yet this year, but it's only a matter of time, unfortunately.

Look what the cat dragged in: Curiosity Cat's Urban Unschooling Homestead

Reply

Look what the cat dragged in: Curiosity Cat's Urban Unschooling Homestead

Reply
post #6 of 6

We just started putting our ducks out in the big ponds for a while during the day. We have I bet every type of wasp and bee out there, at least it seems like it. hmm But the first thing out ducks do is clear the pond of wasps then bees. They snap them out of the air or off of the lilly pads and chew them under water. They actually eat them and the bees. I thought they were going to get hurt them until they kept eating them.

1 great hubby, 2 beautiful kids, 2 big dogs, 2 little kitties, ponds, gardens, 7 chickens, 1 pot bellied pig, & 12 muscovies, 3 swedish, and 1 mutt duck! Life is GOOD! Make the best of it!
Reply
1 great hubby, 2 beautiful kids, 2 big dogs, 2 little kitties, ponds, gardens, 7 chickens, 1 pot bellied pig, & 12 muscovies, 3 swedish, and 1 mutt duck! Life is GOOD! Make the best of it!
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Ducks
BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Other BackYard Poultry › Ducks › Do ducks eat bees?