bees in the food...

[Tanichca]

So my little bro (hes 10. In charge of feeding the free-rangers, while i do the show and breeding pens) left the chicken food open for a few days (i'll put a weeks worth of food in a container, and he will take it from the big bin itself)Today i went to fill up my bin, and there is a nest of bees trying to buld a house in the feed bin! What do i do now? I plan to put the lid back on and keep it like that for a few days until the bees suffocate. Any other ideas?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Do you know if the bees are simply eating the feed in the bin in contrast to building a "nest" in there? If they are eating the food, I'd put the lid back on tightly after sunset tonight and be sure to keep it closed. If they are locating their hive within your feed container (which is entirely possible), then you'll need to either wait them out or call the professionals. Sometimes they will leave after a day or two on their own. Whatever you do, don't mess with them. It is very likely they are africanized.

 

[Tanichca]

daaaaaaaang. My chickens need food!

 

[Tanichca]

this morning there were 5 or 6 bees wandering around inside, and maybe 10 buzzing around the outside. Ill give everyone emergency rations (chick starter, tuna fish, and leftovers) but i need that layer feed for the adult birds sooner or later!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

That sounds to me like they are just eating the food. If they were "moving in", you'd see hundreds, if not thousands of bees. IF they are just eating the food, they are largely harmless. If you were to get food from the bin they'd fly away and wouldn't bother you. IF they are building a hive inside, they would be highly aggressive. Can you see the entire inside of the bin? Is the lid entirely off?

 

[Kaneke]

if you have anyone in the area doing "bee rescue" -- contact them first, as in some parts of the country there are serious shortages of honeybees

are any of your neighbors keeping bees ? if so, let them know, as they may want to retrieve them

would be a shame to have these bees die ---

or are these actually wasps/hornets/yellowjackets ? (very different thing !)

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

Quote:
This is what I was thinking. Wasps do not normally move their nests once situated, but hornets and yellowjackets will. Completely different animals from honey bees.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
This is what I was thinking. Wasps do not normally move their nests once situated, but hornets and yellowjackets will. Completely different animals from honey bees.

I'm assuming she knows the difference between a bee and some other insect. The bees have just become active this week here and they are attracted to chicken feed. I haven't seen a wasp yet this year.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

If it were me, I would leave the bin open so they can fly away, and buy some more food.

If buying more food wasn't an option, I would go out at night and turn the whole thing upside down, dumping out the feed bag (with plans to sweep up the feed afterwards). And run.

But I wouldn't recommend that to you because you might get stung.

I LOVE bees. Our neighbors have them right next to the property line between us. They land on me and hover in front of my face, staring at me eye to eye.

Adorable creatures.

Oh and I also want to mention that since Gallo del Cielo said they might be africanized, that I don't live where africanized bees live. If I did, I might be tempted to call a professional beekeeper to deal with it. I think I would.

 

[Tanichca]

There are wasps and yellow jackets in the area (i see them around, know what they look and sound like) but these are bees. Small body, round... all that. So they arent trying to move in, just eat? And now what do i do?