Do ducks eat bees?

[LoreenH]

I'm curious if ducks eat bees, wasps, yellow jackets, etc. I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere. We have a number of plants in the backyard that attract bees and just wondering if I will need to move or give them away (plants not ducks....lol). We don't have ducks yet but are trying to get our ducks in a row so to speak before we get some. Thank you.

 

[onedozenphyllises]

Hmmm...I can't say for sure, but we have lots of bees and wasps and as far as I can tell our ducks do NOT eat them. At least not enough of them to diminish their populations!

(They could eat the wasps and that would be alright with me.

)

 

[Sweetfolly]

I've never seen my ducks actually eat a bee, but they sure do chase them around when they see them!

 

[Soccer Mom]

Bees and ducks can cohabitate just fine. Mine catch them when they land in the water, but otherwise, not so much. Lots of chasing. Not much catching. When something a little bigger, like a yellow jacket, gets falls in the pool, they go nuts. We call it "going pirhana" at my house.

 

[FenDruadin]

Mine stand by our beehives and eat the honeybees. Not enough to make a difference, though, which is why I haven't bothered to fence them out of there. Also not enough to make a difference in the enormous yellow jacket population we have this year--I can't walk in the backyard without stepping all over yellow jackets, it seems like. Luckily, no one's been stung yet this year, but it's only a matter of time, unfortunately.

 

[newchickmom09]

We just started putting our ducks out in the big ponds for a while during the day. We have I bet every type of wasp and bee out there, at least it seems like it.

But the first thing out ducks do is clear the pond of wasps then bees. They snap them out of the air or off of the lilly pads and chew them under water. They actually eat them and the bees. I thought they were going to get hurt them until they kept eating them.

 

[EstherSyva]

Yes, if your Ducks are active, they will try to eat bees. You do want your ducks to eat bugs, but bees, wasps, and yellow jackets might hurt your ducks throat and stomach.

 

[Smurfbrew]

Yes, I have seen mine eat bees if they can catch them. They sometimes sit by my catnip plants which attract quite a few bees and wait for them. I was worried at first that they would get stung, but so far I don't think they have been. But, by the way they go after them, bees must be tasty!

 

[buff goose guy]

No but my ducks do run after them and my muscovys do fly in the air to get dragonflys and some other bugs at times, could be possible that they've eaten some bees.