The Birds and the Bees

[Ascholten]

So I got a beehive yesterday. Been something I have done a lot of research on and wanting to do for a while.
My question is.
Common sense would say that the chickens would leave them alone, and in fact may even help them by eating the hive beetle larvae etc.
My sense says, the one girl I have is a total tard, if there is trouble SHE is the one causing it.

Birds and Bees, is this something that i am going to need to be very concerned with, or is this one of those problems that tends to sort itself out after the first time

Does anyone else here have beehives and chickens too and how do they interact if at all?

Thanks
Aaron

 

[21hens-incharge]

My neighbor has 3 hives. I keep shallow water dishes out for them and plant extra in my garden to draw them in.

During hot days there will be 300+ bees getting a drink at any given time.

My chickens leave them alone and with the added bee friendly water sources the bees leave the chickens alone.

We have been doing this for 6 years since he got his first bees.


Bee water is important for hive survival. I use big plant saucers with gravel in the bottom and a big piece of sand stone in the middle to prevent bees drowning.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Ours might taste a bee once. Then they leave them alone.

When we have a hive fail, I let the chickens take care of the wax moths and old pollen.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

We are talking about getting a hive, we are researching right now.

 

[3KillerBs]

Following, because, while we don't want to manage bees ourselves, we're going to offer space on our property to a friend who is thinking of expanding his bees -- though he was set back by COVID.

 

[Ascholten]

Thank you for the inputs so far, much appreciated. That is another thing I heard is the hive beetles need to pupate in the ground and the chickens will eat them and scratch around and it's a mutual thing there between them and the bees. I of course am looking at having a pollination source right there too. I have a few trees that explode with flowers on occasion but don't do so well in the fruit department. Yes, I know it's MUCH more complex than that but my logic is, if I can at least get rid of the 'has it been pollinated' variable, then I can hone it down to whatever else is wrong, plus worse case, ok no fruit BUT I was able to get some honey from the tree, so not a TOTAL loss !

I eventually will have a tilapia pond on the other side of the property as well so between the bees, birds, and fish, I should have no reason to ever leave the house right?

Now that would be something to try to design, the hive above the pond somehow so that the dead bees, beatles, etc drop out of hive and into water and feed the fish but having to work on the hive might be difficult if it's right there, unless I have a way to wheel it back a few feet .. hmm. i smell smoke... another bad idea COMING RIGHT UP !!

Aaron

 

[Egghead_Jr]

During times of dearth the bees will seek out your chicken feed as a supplement. The birds will tend to eat less as they are wary of being stung. One bad fall, cold weather was late in coming and bees were still flying; I put out two chicken feeders. One I'd keep in the same spot and mid day when it was covered in bees would put out a second for the birds in different locations.

 

[Sally PB]

Following.

Two weeks before I got chickens (two weeks before Covid shut everything down), I went to a local beekeeper's club meeting. I was thinking about getting bees, for both honey and pollinators.

Then I got chickens and the bees idea went to the back burner. Still interested, for both the honey and pollinators. I'd LOVE to have my own source of honey.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Beekeeping is an expensive hobby. I highly suggest locating a person near you that keeps bees successfully and exchange labor and aiding them in their management for the experience first. This will both educate you in proper management, scheduling of care and how labor intensive it is. Also will build your confidence to be elbows deep in bees to manage those intimidating 60,000 strong colonies.

The key is finding someone who is successful at keeping them alive. With Varroa mites and small hive beetles in the South there is much more to management than decades ago. I sell bees annually and will can say 90% are repeat customers and it's not because they are expanding colony numbers.

 

[Ascholten]

I am a member of a bee club here and have been helping out to learn. Yah, being covered in bees can be a very daunting thing. Sunday we worked 12 hives, split a few, just did a look to see how they were on the rest. By about the 10th hive, yah they were starting to get pissed, but otherwise his bees are very good genetics and very docile, and really were not an issue. to be honest, until dum dum dropped a frame. THAT got them going. Out of the probably few hours we were collecting honey, splitting nuc's etc, I only got dinged twice so not bad at all I think.

YES, getting started can be very expensive but once you do get going, it is very rewarding and if you put the time in it, can help to start paying for itself in a few years. But just like chickens, there is plenty that can and WILL go wrong.

The mites, yah that can be a big issue and I think they treat hives a few times a year down here with the Oxalic Acid. Beetles too, but my thinking was, get the girls used to the hives and they can pick around the bottom of them, eat any beetle larva and dead bees that are kicked out, and hopefully everyone just... gets along. We will soon see.

I wont let the girls out of the cage until the bees been here a few days. I don't want to get too many things going too soon, because being they were moved and this is all new to them, thinking bees might be a bit edgy yet, so throwing chickens their way... umm no.

Aaron