birds and bees

[fratmor]

This will be the first spring that I will have my chickens ,I have a bee problem in my yard near the coop, every spring bees pop up out of the ground buy the time summer comes around they are gone. Will they bite the chickens or will the chickens eat them if I let the girls out of there run?

 

[HorizonSon]

Hmmmmmm.... sounds like a hornet's nest

They can be very vicious! One bit (yes, they bit) and the others will bit there too, because of a scent they leave behind. It is not out of the question to lose a bird to hornets

 

[colowyo0809]

Quote:
actually that's not necessarily true. there are ground bees that make their nest in the ground. Not all do it in a tree or a box

Not saying your wrong, just offering an alternate

 

[HeritageHens]

There are lots of bees that live in the ground and they aren't all vicious (although I did get stung two years ago 5 times when I disturbed a nest in the ground). When my chickens saw their very first bee, it became a prized morsel of food. There are very few places that a bee could actually sting a chicken that I wouldn't worry about it. I'm all for letting nature do it's own thing without human interference and especially without chemicals. And yes, I left the bee nest alone. They all moved elsewhere last summer.

 

[janespromos]

I'm a beekeeper as well as a slave to the hens, and if the "bees" are coming out of the ground, they are more than likely ground wasps and not true bees. It is a never ending exasperation to explain to people that not all flying insects are "bees."

My husband used to get walloped every time he mowed the grass in certain spots. We thought we found where they were coming from, but there were actually several colonies. We were able to get rid of them by hanging a lure for them. I'm pretty sure we got it from Lowes for less than $10. It uses a bait that smells like rotting meat but I couldn't smell it at all. Our honeybees never went near it, and by the end of the 1st season, we no longer had any problems with the wasps.

If I might inject a word of caution: Someone on my bee forum kept her hens in the same area as her hives. Normally the bees won't bother the hens, but she decided to inspect during what we call "dearth," i.e. little or no nectar sources coming in. During dearth, bees generally react the same way they would if a bear were invading their honey stores. The bees attacked her and the nosy hens by clustering around the eyes and combs to sting. She lost half her flock that way, and vowed to put the girls up the next time she worked the bees.

 

[fratmor]

Janespromos, They have lived on my lawn for several years now and i keep out of there way when they are out they come out of the grown making mounts around the opening , I have watched them go in and out . not sure what they are but they look like giant bees(like a honey bee) to someone who knows nothing about bee keeping.what do you think?

 

[Miss Lydia]

could they be yellow jackets they nest in the ground?

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Agree with Ms. Lydia...maybe yellow jackets?

Anyway, if you do HAVE to get rid of them for the danger to your chickens, my Dad always waited until after dark and poured about a 12 oz coke bottle's worth of gasoline down the hole. Sounds inhumane, but that's what he did. If anyone else has alternative advice, by all means, use it and mine as a last resort...

Good luck and stay safe!

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

My chickens eat the yellow jackets by biting their heads off first, but I don't know what they'd do with a whole nest

 

[cabincrazyone]

The bug on the left is a miner bee. It's a gentle bee that lives under ground. It's pretty hard to make them mad. The guy on the right is a wasp. They come in a lot of different colors, but that's the shape. They are the more aggressive ones. So, which is it?