Honey bees stealing chicken food

[marymac]

MMMMMMMMMM.......Honey, I would look for the hive.

 

[SandraChick]

Quote:
Well, thanks for sharing that. I've never seen any honey bees in my feed, and have plenty of them around. Very Interesting. I'll have to warn my sisiter...she's starting beekeeping.

Sandra

 

[klf73]

Quote:
I am not saying they aren't honey bees, but there is a possibility they aren't......I would find the source and that would be a great indicator what they are. The things I have got real aggressive and started attacking my chickens (who free range), they would sting their face....
Also had my son's therapist come out and check it out, she is also a bee keeper......

 

[kwynn's birds Alaska]

Interesting...my neighbors are bee keepers, though i have not noticed them in the layer feed last summer. (still too cold yet this year) but maybe it helped that my garden is between the hive and my birds.

maybe set some pots of sweetsmelling flowers somewhere away from your coop to interest the bees in something else. Just a thought.

 

[babalubird]

If they are truly honey bees, I don't see how in the world they could be any threat to your chickens. Honey bees are so clean, remember, their product, honey, can be used and bottled without any further sanitizing than a clean, sanitized jar. The little buggers are very fastidious and clean.

The only time they are going to get aggressive is near their hive. And if they are wild, all the more reason to let them live. Honey bees are greatly endangered in the wild now.

Connie

 

[originalcloudtown]

Hi, I am new here... well sort of. I have been checking out the forums on and off for a couple of months now as I will be ordering chicks hopefully here in the next week or so....


This post had me scratching my head so I called my mom (who raised bees for years because she couldnt find local honey for my brother with allergies and wanted to help him)..... Anyhow... I called my mommy (cause I love her) and here is what she says about your bee issue:

The bees are starving and that is why they are stealing your chicken feed (I think she must have had this issues of sorts before)

She followed it up with try to figure out where the wild swam is and place a bowl of sugar water near them to help them out.

She also said that you can try to get yourself a free bee brood by re-homing them into a standard hive but she wasnt sure as to how to do that exactly. She said she read tons of books on it but never did it herself.... BUT if they are starving you may be able to basically start feeding them and make a new bunch of friends.



I hope this helps you with your bee issue. bottom line, give your "new girl friends" a hand and some sweets and they may repay the favor

-Malinda

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Wanted to poke in and say to Malinda, Great first post!!!

 

[andehens]

Welcome Melinda!!!

Has anybody tried following the meat bees back to their nest? I've tried for years and have not been successful, how do you keep from losing sight of them?

 

[originalcloudtown]

Bees are cleaver little girls. They will generally follow the same paths from point a to point b... when they return to their hives they do a little jig to share with their friends where the good snacks are.

Because of this it is time consuming but fairly easy to figure out where they live. Here is what you do:

Plan on bee-ing (lol sorry, had to)

occupied for a good portion of the day. carry a water bottle with you.

Start at the location you know the bees are at and follow one until you lose sight of it... at that point STOP!

Stay put, hang out and be quiet. If you stay put long enough you will find that your little bee friend (or one of her many sisters) will be back in a moment.

Once you see another bee heading away from your starting point, follow her.

Keep doing this until you find where they live.

You do have to remember though that bees will travel up to 10 miles for food. Because of this you may want to stop once you reach your property line. BUT bees are very efficient little buggers and will usually pick food locations closer to home, that is unless little suzzy-q-bee found a better tasting flower down the road.

Since my first post I have again talked to my mom (we chat a TON) and she followed up with telling me that you may want to get a "pollen patty" from a bee supplier as the bees are lacking that as well if they are stealing your feed.

As far as hurting your chickens, they should be fine... heck, they may be happy little hens as chickens eat bees, so they have a special treat right in their own coup.

Good luck
-Malinda

 

[CarriBrown]

Malinda- Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you know your honey bees! I never would have thought that honey bees would be stealing chicken food. Sounds like something wasps or hornets would do!