Hey all. I have chickens and have had a scratch feeder setup for a number of years.
This year there are bees in the scratch (corn, milo and wheat) and they are digging around in it and it looks like they are trying to eat it :shock: ?????
I also make coffee outside at a table, and toss the used grounds on the ground beside a tree.....The bees are into that as well :shock: !!
Any ideas of what's causing this....I'm thinking they are hungry or something, but the trees are in bloom and there are bees up there............am I in the Twilight Zone?. :roll: .lol......z
Sounds like Yellow Jackets to me.
wayne
i dont know about the chicken scratch i buy but i know that the laying mash i get has molasses mixed in so maybe your scratch does.
some of my bees like to dig around in my potting soil and they are always looking for something on the ground in front of their hives. :?:
Archie
The dust from the chicken scratch is akin to pollen (ie pollen substitute) which is why they are attracted to it. They will do this when there is low availability of pollen from flowers.
Sctrach to chickens is like candy. I broadcast feed mine just enough for the chickens to eat while I'm gathering eggs, changing water, etc. They are always waiting for me at the gate when they see me coming. I can pick up my chickens by hand and move them from place to place, they are so tame from being feed their "treat" that way.
Quote from: wayneSounds like Yellow Jackets to me.
wayne
Hmmmm.....well, they're not YELLOW.......lolol.........z
Looking for Pollen sounds reasonable...it's the end of the summer here and I live in a desert area......there's lots of pollen in the pepper trees that are in bloom now though.....this is the very first time in maybe 12 years that this has happened.............z
Btw, If you want to know what crack cocaine is to chickens, leave out some styrofoam...........lololol.......z
Bees will gather grain dust when there is no pollen.
Zardiw
I was up in Marin county a few weeks ago and noticed some older pepper trees just beginning to bloom (in Mill Valley specifically). Is that unusual? It occured to me that I had never really noticed them before and I'm usually out there around that time every year.
Hey, my flower garden is abloom with crocus in late September. A February flower is either very late or really early.
I have both the Brazilian and the regular pepper trees, and the Brazilian is blooming and the regular isn't yet....There must be a lot more african colonies around than there used to be, that's why they are probably short on pollen............z