Bee's attacked our chickens today with dozens of stings each. Help!

[VistaChicks]

We've had a wild bee hive on our property for years now but today (Sunday) we had a bizarre incident where the bee's attacked our chickens and anything else out there. We had to watch and cry from inside the safety of the house, as they came after us when we stepped outside. It was horrible. Finally now at dusk with the bee's back inside their hive, we've gone outside to see the damage. Several of our hens and our turkey have multiple (20+) stingers in their faces. One hen was dead. The ones with lots of stingers are alive but lethargic, shaky and can barely move. We put them into their coop from their run to keep them warm, and provided fresh water and food. But don't know what else to do.

Our big question is "do we remove/pull out the stingers or leave them alone"? I don't want them to get infected by leaving them in. .. Also what else can we do for them to help them recover? If anything?
I'm calling a bee removal service first thing in the morning and am just praying that our hens survive this ordeal. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks so much,

Beth & Mark

 

[ALLFloridaBeeRemoval]

Hope that things work out well for you.

As an entomologist and 'bee remover', it's always interesting to see what folks say about honey bees. There's been some good comments, and some that have missed the target, just a bit.

I'd like to offer a few things from my perspective as an insect scientist and beekeeper.

1. While most honey bees that are kept in beehives are relatively gentle, any bee colony can get defensive. Sometimes they have a 'bad day', maybe from a skunk that might have hassled them during the previous night. Or, the queen has died , (or been killed by her daughters, more likely), and the colony cannot raise another queen. The colony becomes quite distressed and can get as mean as any African Honey Bee, (AHB), colony I've seen. Or,the colony gets overtaken by an AHB queen and swarm.

In any case, it's important to monitor one's bees, if they are being managed in a hive box. Which leads me to:

2. Wild bee colonies should not be tolerated. Unless you are willing to accept a stinging incident. Probably the biggest contributor to sting incidents. Wild bees are unpredictable. Like someone else mentioned, bees can get ornery this time of years, as available flowers are diminishing in numbers. A bee colony that had been percieved as gentle, can turn mean as fire, from even a small provocation. There have been several horse deaths this year from bee attacks. In every case, bee colonies had been allowed to persist nearby. In one incident, multiple colonies even, because they were "gentle". Got children, elderly, handicapped folks or animals? and a wild bee colony? get it terminated or live removed pronto.

3. If you are living in Africanized territory, such as the OP, bee extra vigilant. African bees are a different race, and much more unpredictable. I'm in Florida, and am documenting the takeover of wild feral bees by AHB. The behaviours are quite different, and we run into some spectacular sting incidents. AHB have been in SoCal so long now, that the incidents rarely make the news. Don't be lulled by the lack of info, There are LOADS of AHB in SoCal, and they can bee, mean, mean mean.

4. Bees are doing OK. What???? yeah, we are having some issues with our managed bees, but I'm confident we'll straighten that out. Our managed honey bees are not the same AHB that is spreading through the south. Where we see AHB, we see LOTS of them.. They are a very robust race of honey bee, and the numbers skyrocket when they move in an area. Great for pollination, not so great for us and our animals. But, if one is prudent, the risk goes way down. Bee smart, and you'll be ok.

Here's a link to a blogpost I wrote about the horse fatalities. Hope the link comes through:
Killer Bees and Horses: Fatal consequences

hth,


Richard Martyniak

 

[welasharon]

www. theshugars.com/2009/06/bee-stung-chicken-lips.html
I just found this maybe it will help
sharon
take the space out after the www.

 

[Chicky Tocks]

Oh no!

I'm so sorry for your chickens, but thank The Lord above that it wasn't YOU or children or or omg...

I've always heard that you should remove bee stingers with a credit card. Just use the flat side and scrape it over the stinger. I don't know if this would work on a chicken's face, but even if you have to use a corner, it might work..or even a matchbook might work considering the scale down.

Your poor chickens!

 

[wildeflowers]

That is crazy. I can only imagine how awful you must have felt watching that.

Are you sure they are bees and not hornets? Or possible africanized bees? You don't say where you live so if you're in a warm climate, I would suspect some aggressive breed. No normal bees would attack anything in the yard like that or prevent you from leaving the house.

I would definitely remove the stingers. It won't harm them to remove them and it certainly could help.

 

[bantiebabe1200]

All I can recommend is doing your best to remove the stingers with a credit card or something similar as long as it's not stressing them out too much. Then maybe call a vet in the morning to see if there's anything they would suggest other wise.

I'm so sorry about your birds. You'll be in my thoughts.

 

[MysticScorpio82]

I have never had, nor know anyone that has had an inncident like that occur. I would think removing the stingers would be best, since I know we remove from humans that get stung. If you do remove them, I would put neosporin (NOT the one with pain killer) on the wounds to help prevent infection.

Since you said the chickens are lethargic and shaken, I would definately add some poly vi sol - (I think that is how you spell it, it is just infant vitamins) to their water to help perk them up.

 

[kcfuerst]

Wow, I never knew a bee would sting a chicken. If the bees attacked for no reason, it could be that you have an Africanized colony on your hands. Plain honeybees aren't that aggressive. You might call a beekeeper and discuss euthanizing the hive that caused such destruction. You can do this yourself by going out after dark when the hive is asleep and put a giant black plastic trash bag over the hive and then remove it from its location. You could dispose of it in the trash where by the next afternoon they will all most likely be dead.

Sorry you lost some chicks, but glad you are OK.

Oh, I forgot to mention, that to remove a stinger before it does damage, you must do it immediately. A bee's stinger has a sac on the end of it that keep pumping venom into the victim after the bee has taken off to die. If you rub the stinger the wrong direction, you may actually help pump more venom into the victim instead of removing the stinger. Take care.

 

[clio]

Quote:
I agree, that honeybees usually are not that aggressive ... yellow jackets, Africanized bees, wasps and hornets could be the ones ...

If they are honeybees, a beekeeper could take the hive away for you.

If you can get to the hive at night, as someone suggested, and put it in a plastic bag, be sure you SEAL the bag completely before putting it in the trash (not a public trash where some one might be looking for recycled cans/bottles and would open the bag)

Keep us posted ....

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I believe you can give them benedryl to counter the venom. I have no idea of the dose. I suggest posting the question in the emergency section.