Anyone keep bees in addition to their birds?

[PirateShipp]

So before we bought our property I had started looking into keeping bees. Now that we have a bigger place out of the city, and I was gifted some chickens, we have birds. Still no bees. I know the birds are great at keeping bugs and pests down.
If I get a hive, will the chickens just hang out there like an all you can eat buffet?

 

[Life is Good!]

My hens ignore our hives. However, guinea hens would feast all day there....so it depends on who's in your flock.
Even still, I'd make sure the hens couldn't get near the hives - some lightweight removable fencing would do the trick.

 

[PirateShipp]

Good to know! We don't have guineas but do currently have 5 chickens.
So basically just a mini cage around the hive that I could move when I need to access the hive?
Seems easy enough...

 

[Honey Maid]

I've chickens and bees. This time of year the bees are all over the chicken layer feed, suns out, it's warm, nothing blooming, so they are after whatever they can find. The chickens do not bother with the bees.

 

[PirateShipp]

Nice! I'm still scouting a location for a hive. Definitely will be away from the coops. Just wanted to hear from some folks who have both to prepare. I had thought of getting gunieas but hear they are hard to keep on your property and I love the idea of free range. That with the bee buffet might not be a good idea

 

[irischick]

we have two hives we started in March. We extracted 40 pounds in September. With the weather we are having this winter, I am praying they survive. Our hens ignore the bees. They are a fascinating creature and enjoy having them. We will be splitting our big hive and possible the newer one this spring.

 

[PirateShipp]

I've been wanting a hive or two for a while now. Just haven't gotten around to it! Hoping to meet up with a group this spring to learn more.

 

[Honey Maid]

I learned something today. Last night we had a LOT of wind, about 70 MPH or so, sustained. And gusting higher. The previous night winds gusted to about 60 or so, but were not sustained. Well, I had my hives, 3 of them all in a row, on top of an "ant stand". This morning the hives had not toppled, thank goodness, because of the wind, but the ant stand had collapsed. Well, I got the hives level again, with some finagling and smoking. There is a dowel from the ant stand stuck under one of the hives, and I could not get it.
Came back about an hour later with Husband to help me, there were bees all over the place. Especially on the ground IFO the hives. I'd thought, oh no, look at all the dead bees. Knowing they were kind of agitated we did not mess with the hive with the dowel under it, it is stable enough for the time being. I then went back a few hours after that, and there were bees out, in and out of the hive, at their water trough, but not nearly the amount on the ground IFO the hives that had been. I was wondering, did the bees have an inkling that things were amiss, with the jolt from their initial fall, to the other jolt and smoke, when I reset them, so there was a semi mass exodus and wait awhile, to make sure everything was copacetic before they all returned into the hive. Weather is still windy, rain off and on, in the high 40's, so they are not flying too much.
Just thought I'd put this observation out there. I'd add pics to this post but don't see where I can upload them.

 

[PirateShipp]

That's interesting. I didn't even THINK about wind factor. It gets gusty quite a bit since we're on flat land at the base of the mountains. I'll keep this in mind during placement.
Thank you!

 

[Honey Maid]

Pirateship, Luckily I had cargo straps around each hive, instead of a big brick, to keep the lids on. I think the hives would have come apart if I had not had each individual hive strapped together. After getting them upright again, I got another, larger, cargo strap, and strapped them to the big blocks of wood I have them sitting on. I'll have to take a pic of that, so you can see it. Here's some pics I took the other day?