bee eating birds

[filmmlif]

are there any birds that like to dine on bees? i have been noticing a few birds around my hives lately and was curious....

[jaime]

Lots, phoebes, martins, flycatchers.  We have two of above but they don't keep the colony from thriving.

[thomashton]

Yup. There are plenty and there's not much you can do to shoo them away except putting up a scarecrow or having your dog chase them. They are all protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Unfortunately, I have to know about these dry things :(  for my work as a wildlife biologist.

However, like was earlier said, they won't eat enough to slow down your build up or cause your colonies to slow down.

[Summerbee]

"Bee Eating Birds"

At first glance at this post title, I thought you had some mutant bee that was eating birds... :D  

My turkeys dine on the dead bees drug(dragged?) out of the hive.  But they don't really have an effect on the population.

[Hi-Tech]

Does anyone have chickens free ranging around their hives? I thought they might keep the beetles and pests down...

[Brian D. Bray]

Hi Tech
Try geese, they also work for keeping slugs and snails out of the garden.

[Michael Bush]

>Does anyone have chickens free ranging around their hives? I thought they might keep the beetles and pests down...

I do.  I get a lot less ticks.  But I haven't had small hive bettles, so I couldn't say about that.

[manowar422]

I have a Mocking Bird that comes to dine in the bee yard almost
every day. The bird is too smart to get really close to the hive
openings, but will get close enough to be dive bombed every
once in a while. Depending on his movements, he can pick the
dying or freshly dead bees out of the grass without notice. If the
bird flits & hops around alot, he will be run off pretty quickly.

[TwT]

I also have chickens running loose, they got by my hives only 1 time, they don't go by the hives anymore, I have only seen one go close to a hive and that didn't last long ;) , they don't bother the bee's...

[randydrivesabus]

i've got guineas but theres only 3 and i havent yet seen them over by the hives. i've heard that guineas will just stand outside the hive entrance and dine away. glad we dont have the 50 we had at one time.

[photokid]

Chickens are awesome. I've got six roaming all around my three hives in the backyard. They have even laid eggs directly under the hives. Haven't seen a single hive beetle. My dogs have also been tick and flea-free ever since I had the chickens. Before my hens my dogs were infested. I was pulling swollen ticks every day from the poor creatures.

I've got 15 hives out in the farmland and can't wait to put a fence around them for my hens. This is the best way to be organic in my mind.