Bees or not to bees

[Grammypammy]

I am seriously considering adding a bee hive to our property. I have no doubt I have a good place for it but I am wondering about the chickens. Will the bees bother the chickens? will the chickens eat all the bees? I just read an article about guinea hens that said they are known to stand right beside the hive and eat all the bees as they come out. Yikes! Who has experience with bees out there?

 

[chickmama1662]

We added 2 hives to our property this spring. Have had the bees for 2 weeks now. I saw the article about the guineas too. So far we have not had any problem with the bees and the chickens. The chickens wander around the section where the hives are but don't seem to pay any attention to the bees.

 

[Grammypammy]

Do you feel happy you have bees? more or less work than you expected? Do your bees survive the winter well?

 

[MargaretAnneHK]

My biggest worry with bees right now is how often you would need to replace them? I have heard of many bee keepers losing theirs left and right. :/

 

[66chicks]

i keep bees. i have a neighbor that keeps them and his chickens wander all around his hives without any problems. i doubt i'll let my chickens range far enough to get around my hives.
the winter losses are worse up north than what we experience down here. go to youtube and search for "wintering nucs michael palmer".
michael palmer seems to be doing well as an intermediate sized commercial beekeeper (around 700 hives, i think). i don't agree with all of his practices but if i were in a cold climate i'd probably follow his wintering practices.