Honey Bees

[Dean W]

I've been having swarm of bees going around the feed that I give the chickens. They are even attracted to the Hen Scratch especially the corn. Any suggestions? The larger birds eat them if they can, but the younger ones seem like they are afraid. I suppose for good reason. Hopefully, they are not the Africanized Killer Bees I've heard of.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I'd call a local beekeeper to see if he wants them.

 

[Dean W]

Good idea because I don't want to harm them just reduce the swarm. I mean I've seen a few before, but there were 100's of them.

 

[leonphelps]

why not catch the swarm and make honey. check on youtube how to catch swarm. simple with a biodegradeable plant pot and some lemon grass oil.

bees will make your garden unbelievable and also give you some honey. your birds will east some for free protein.

 

[Dean W]

Well maybe I exaggerated when I said hundreds. Here they are with chick starter.

 

[Dean W]

why not catch the swarm and make honey. check on youtube how to catch swarm. simple with a biodegradeable plant pot and some lemon grass oil.

bees will make your garden unbelievable and also give you some honey. your birds will east some for free protein.

We talked about catching them and making a bee hive. There must be one close by in the woods. They'll be great for the garden come spring.

 

[Busybee1]

I am a hobbiest bee keeper. I have 3 bee hives very close to my chicken coop. I have never seen any bees near their food. This looks very unusual to me. Is there sugar in the chick starter? The only thing they would be after is sugar or water. I would call the local extension office or somehow get a hold of someone at a local beekeeping club. There may be a hive if bees in a tree nearby.

 

[Dean W]

I didn't look at the ingredients on the bag, but there may be some trace amount of sugars. Okay, I'll look into the local extension office.

 

[Busybee1]

I just read another post saying they were after the protein. Maybe you can put some decoy food out. This other post said they eat the dust from the feed. Maybe a pile of dust outside the coop as a decoy. You still may have a hive really close by that a beekeeper may want.

 

[Dean W]

I put some sugar in some water. Once the food has been exposed awhile to the air they're no longer interested. Perhaps it is the proteins, I don't know that much about them.