Not usually a pest, but does anyone else have this problem?

[MarlaMac]

I know I am a little late responding to this post. We have this problem every fall and early spring - when the natural bee food is either dying off or not yet blooming. Swarms of bees hitting the feeders. My chickens will not eat when the bees are there.

Put water in their feed. Make it into a mash and the bees will leave it alone. They are after the dust at the bottom of the tray.

The first time you do it you might waste some feed, but you will get better at knowing how much feed you can wet and not waste any. I almost have it down to a science now. I throw very little away each night, if any.

Good luck.

 

[GooseMom111]

I know I am a little late responding to this post. We have this problem every fall and early spring - when the natural bee food is either dying off or not yet blooming. Swarms of bees hitting the feeders. My chickens will not eat when the bees are there.

Put water in their feed. Make it into a mash and the bees will leave it alone. They are after the dust at the bottom of the tray.

The first time you do it you might waste some feed, but you will get better at knowing how much feed you can wet and not waste any. I almost have it down to a science now. I throw very little away each night, if any.

Good luck.

Thank you, that's quite helpful!

 

[ABQ chicken keeper]

Why have someone collect them? Every plant around you will benefit for having bees around. My neighbor raises bees to sell honey and has a bunch of hive. They sometimes collect in numbers around my water tanks to drink if conditions are dry outside. Annoying but I'm trying to practice tolerance with nature. Experiment with different kitchen spices to get the bees out of your feed. I think cinnamon cloves and pepper will bother the bees but not your chickens.

PB,
Free roaming domesticated bees can out compete wild bees due to sheer numbers. Wild bees are what we as gardeners depend on to pollinate our fruit trees and berry plants.