Bees & ants in the coops, anyone else?

[RedfogsFlock]

So we have automatic feeders in our coops. I went out to top them off last night and discovered hundreds of bees in the feeders going in & out of them and swarmin all around them!

Then this morning I go out to collect eggs and our goats are going absolutely nuts!!! I look in their pen and the ground is crawling, along with their tire for them to climb on. I start lookin closer and notice their bed is also covered & 5 of my chickens are on top refusing to come down! I start lookin at the chain link fence & it's made of ants!!! Even their water bucket was about 3 inches deep with dead ants! Those HUGE red fire ants! All of these have wings! They are all in our mesquite tree, and all over our girls!

Anyone else with these problems????

My hubby went in and saved the chickens, (gettin bit a few times) bless his heart! Then he covered the tire, and ground and everything and sparked it up! Killed about 3/4 of them. So now it's time to do our afternoon feed and we still can't put the goats back cuz the ants are just to thick! I can't leave em runnin loose overnight, in case they fall into the pond, or something. So now what?

HHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!

 

[greeneggsandham]

Do you know if the bees are honeybees?

 

[woodmort]

First it sounds like the ants were swarming--if they were winged that is common this time of year when it gets so hot. That should end in a day or so.
Second, are you sure they are bees and not wasps/hornets. There is a huge difference although honeybees will sometimes be drawn to feed, they generally are harmless--they seem to realize they have only one sting and use it very judiciously--wasps, on the other hand, can sting multiple times. If you happen to have a yellow jackets nest near they can really be nasty.

 

[RedfogsFlock]

Oh we are sure they are honey bees. A few weeks ago we had a swarm of honey bees in our tree, but it went away in a day or so. They aren't wasps or hornets they're not aggresive like that, and I know the difference in their looks lol. We just can't understand why bees are attracted to the layena?

 

[woodmort]

There might be something in the feed they think they need that attracts them. There was a thread on here a couple of weeks ago posted by someone in Hawaii (I think that's right) about honey bees being attracted by chicken food.

 

[Jenski]

If you want to get rid of a nest of ants without chemicals, you could try boiling water: get all of your critters out of the area and pour buckets of boiling water over the ants. It's a pain to haul the water, but it works.

 

[rrgrassi]

Are they true honeybees, or the africanized bees? A friend of mine told about how her dad was attacked by africanized bees while he was mowing

I did not know that fire ants made it to Arizona, but they do spread fast and are quite mean, and really hurt when they sting. I have found that only chemical poisons work, like Amdro bait. Fire ants tend to swarm after a good rain. They have left my flock and thier food alone so far, but they have been going after the water, since it's so dry out here. I use Amdro, and I use Bayer Fireant Killer. The Bayer works really fast, but has to be watered in. I found if I use it after a rain, no need to water it in. We also use Over and Out around the foundation of our house.

Carpenter Ants will also use the fence line to move in great numbers. They also look similiar to fire ant, but the carpenter ants are bigger. Fire ants tend to be smaller, butthey do have really big soldiers.

Boiling water only works down so far. The ants will move to another spot. Also, the queen can be up to 25 feet below the surface. That is why baits are more effective, albeit slow.