Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => DISEASE & PEST CONTROL => Topic started by: doak on May 20, 2007, 10:19:26 pm
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Anyone having trouble with birds getting their bees?
How do I stop it? I tried a rubber snake in the water trough. They don't pay it any attention.
doak
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I have not had trouble with birds.
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I have a few small problems with birds. not enough to really warrant any action but every now and then I will catch a bird going after the free buffet he sees. I tend to look at it as nature in action. I have a bigger problem with spiders. The spiders set up webs on the final approach path. I must be the only person who has spiders that need Jenny Craig.
Sincerely,
Brendhan
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These birds come right to the entrance.
The spiders don't have a chance, I have my colonies in my back yard and I take what I call "the bee walk" 3 or 4 times a day. I also carry a stick, to rake anything off the landing deck that doesn't belong there.
doak
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I have swallows, in the hives located near populated areas, and "bee eaters" everywhere. I can´t kill them. I have increased the number of hives.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Bee-eater (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Bee-eater)
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i have swallows too, but i think they don't pick too many bees, there's plenty of other insects, but anyway, swallows are good
but sparrows...oh dear, they come by in the afternoon, round two to three o'clock and they're just pickin' those bees up! loads and loads of bees, but from my observations, i'm almost sure they're picking up only drones, most of which can't fly. but, sparrows eat only grains and stuff, so i'm pretty sure this is for the young ones.
i think shooting with an airgun only in their proximity would get them away for a longer period of time but hell..let them pick those drones.
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Red birds and brown thrashers. I can't tell what they are catching. They come when the bees are doing their orientation flights.
doak
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Last year we had a bird problem also.
I put up an owl decoy on top of a post beside the hives. It seems to have worked.
We did not see any birds catching bees at the hives anymore.
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I couldn't findany string to hang the owls yesterday so I set them on a cement block.
noticed the one bird would come up on the blind side and creep around the hive. Grab a bee and scoot.
This afternoon I found some string and got the owls "just-a-swining" from a limb. they are above the tallest hive now. It was late but I didn't see any birds up close to the hives.
I'll keep y'all posted.
doak
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Doak. Good. I think it is dreadful that any bees should be lost to predators, there are so many more insects that we could certainly be rid of, leave our bees alone. Great day, Cindi
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Put up owl roosting boxes and lure those sweet little killers to roost in your yard...worked for me. I noticed out of the corner of my eye today there is a bald eagle at the tree tops. The birds just melted away into the forest.
(http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pd36ec5db4fae7828e40218fdb7431468/e961d962.jpg)
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Bee C, nice picture, looks like the owl was blinking (LOL). Did you you some kind of night shot camera or just a camera with flash? He looks dazzled. You will have to tell about how many roosting boxes you have at your place. Have a wonderful day, great life, good health. Cindi
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(http://www.brendhanhorne.com/coppermine_dir/albums/userpics/10001/normal_e961d962.jpg)
Sorry, it couldn't be helped.
:-D
Sincerely,
Brendhan
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Preditory birds are a major problem for me. I had a sharpshin hawk who decided he liked pigeon, racing pigeons to be exact. Got to the point I was down to 4 birds. Then the hawk decided to follow the pigeons through the traps and into the loft where it dinned on 2 more. I was down to my last pair. The Hawk, BTW, is no longer a nuance to my neighborhood. I am now slowly building my bird population back up--have 5 now.
Just had a banty hen hatch the only egg she was sitting one but I don't want to loose the chick to hawks.
In my area we have Bald eagles, Ospreys, Goshawks, Pereguin falcons, sharpshins, Red Tailed hawks, Sparrow hawks (which prey on bees and flying insects), Coopers hawks, several other variety of hawks as well as vultures, and several types of owls. I can hardly go outside without seeing a bird of prey.
The only birds that dine on the flying bees are the Sparrow hawks and once in awhile the barn swallows. The swallows, most of the time, fly near the water retention pond for the development next door scooping up misquitoes. Since I'm the only one in the neighborhood who still has a barn I get to host the swallows.
I must admit thought that the crows and ravens do a fairly good job of harassing and keeping the larger birds of prey far enough away that they don't bother my birds too much.
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Brain D. Bray,
I have just about everything you named, except the bald Eagle. They're down the road about 12 miles. I do have Golden Eagles.
The guys messing with my bees is red bird and the Brown Thrasher, our "STATE BIRD".
The resin owls are not keeping them out. One day was all it took for them to find they're not the real thing.
I'm not going to loose any sleep over it.
May try my critter gitter and see if that works. Or some red ribbon. Don't want to use blue or white
doak
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ok..they've crossed the line. saw a bird more than 2 times standing on the entrance. time for airgun!
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Someone needs to make an Owl decoy with a bobble head that the wind will move, the movement will keep the birds from figuring out it not real. I think it would work much better than a fixed statue.
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I believe Home Depot has something like that.
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Folks, Sorry if I have to revive this thread.
We have problems with birds feasting on the bees especially during foraging. Several suggestions were made, some were possible to do, some were illegal to do. The birds Im refering to is the Philippine swift (black with white streak thru the body). When the birds attack, the colony size drops, mostly the nurse bees are left.
Here are some of the thing that was done
1. Use a gun to shoot the birds -> cannot be done. There is a subdivision beside our place and the action of shooting those birds would give me a one way ticket to jail
2. Use a decoy -> wont work for far foraging areas. And the birds seems smart enough to know after a couple of days that it is only a decoy and they again continue feasting.
3. Use the real live predatory bird like eagles and owls-> sad to say these predatory birds are already on the endangered species list. Local laws will not allow us to keep or use these birds. These predatory birds are confined only to restricted wildlife areas.
Some folks suggest that we use poision, but as much as possible we want to search for an environmentally friendly way to controlling those birds. Appreciate if anybody can give additional suggestions.
Thanks in advance
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Folks, Sorry if I have to revive this thread.
We have problems with birds feasting on the bees especially during foraging. Several suggestions were made, some were possible to do, some were illegal to do. The birds Im refering to is the Philippine swift (black with white streak thru the body). When the birds attack, the colony size drops, mostly the nurse bees are left.
Here are some of the thing that was done
1. Use a gun to shoot the birds -> cannot be done. There is a subdivision beside our place and the action of shooting those birds would give me a one way ticket to jail
2. Use a decoy -> wont work for far foraging areas. And the birds seems smart enough to know after a couple of days that it is only a decoy and they again continue feasting.
3. Use the real live predatory bird like eagles and owls-> sad to say these predatory birds are already on the endangered species list. Local laws will not allow us to keep or use these birds. These predatory birds are confined only to restricted wildlife areas.
Some folks suggest that we use poision, but as much as possible we want to search for an environmentally friendly way to controlling those birds. Appreciate if anybody can give additional suggestions.
Thanks in advance
What about a air gun they are quiet that's what I use
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Would these same birds eat seeds? What about putting seeds out nearbye to lure them and feed them so they're not inclined to eat as many bees?
...JP
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It must be a different post I posted too - but HERE I have Sandpiper Birds who follow the dying older workers walking away from the hive for the last time. The sandpipers only eat the older workers leaving the younger females alone. They leave the young healthy bees alone - only eating the dying ones - a great asset for the beekeeper.
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Most birds eat bugs during nesting, the chicks need the protein to grow fast & leave the nest. Some birds like swallows & swifts (I think) only eat bugs. If you have a decoy type thing you have to move it every day or so & have a couple of different looking ones. Best thing is to have a dog that loves to chase birds! Cats are good too but are not easily visable as they are sneaky...J
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What about a air gun they are quiet that's what I use
Hello Sir, for our situation, its dangerous using a gun of any kind in our place since there is a populated area near the place. If somebody get shot from whatever gun, chances are the blame would be on me.
The nearby foraging areas are free of birds since there are several decoys placed around it, plus my labrador is helping me chase away those birds. The big problem is the far foraging areas. I cant go to that place since I have to passby several private properties.
We also tried using seeds but the birds seems to prefer the bees.
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I live on lake Ontairo so we have "birds" or as some like to call them flying Rats, sea gulls. If you can streach fishing string the clear kind, across the yard above head height . The birds run into these a few times and it scares them off. They won't leave the area but they won't like going below the string. You might have to run a few so they get the idea. Good Luck Tony
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There are more bees than the birds can eat...Please don't shoot the birds. It is kinda like people who place their prized goats in an area where mountain lions lives out here, then get upset when the lion kills a goat, and goes out and kills the dang lion...that increases the deer population for us...There will be a balance.
I was worried last year when blue jays were sitting outside my one hive, enjoying bees...they didn't even make a dent in the population. The birds are beneficial. they will eat harmful bugs as well...
Try a scarecrow before killing the birdies...
Thank you and amen...
Sharon
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Tony, that is a great idea & works for a variety of birds. They do that at the salmon hatcheries around here & I know people that have done it in their yard for their koi ponds. Once Blue Heron find your pond your fish are toast. We have Osprey here also. Luckily I built my pond with that in mind, the shallows are very limited & the pond goes straight down to around 34". We have Stellar Jays & I have never seen them bother the bees. J
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There are more bees than the birds can eat...Please don't shoot the birds. It is kinda like people who place their prized goats in an area where mountain lions lives out here, then get upset when the lion kills a goat, and goes out and kills the dang lion...that increases the deer population for us...There will be a balance.
I was worried last year when blue jays were sitting outside my one hive, enjoying bees...they didn't even make a dent in the population. The birds are beneficial. they will eat harmful bugs as well...
Try a scarecrow before killing the birdies...
Thank you and amen...
Sharon
I totally agree with you Mam Sharon. That is why I want to use environmentally friendly ways to protect our hives and at the same time just scare (not kill) the birds.
One of the method we are doing is making sure that the colony is strong so even if the birds would feast on the bees, the hive is still strong. Placed several scarecrows/decoys as well. Hope this works, since its difficult to intervene with the balance of nature.
Thanks for the info.
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My bees were realy brooding up until a colony of purple martins moved in. My bees went to rock bottom.I would not what martins know where near a queen mating yard. Got to do something about them.
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We have barn cats... I have actually seen the cats hanging out right between the hives waiting for a meal. The bees don't seem to care that the cats are there. That way I don't have to worry about the birds. The cats do it for me. Balance... Nature... Fat cats.... Environmentally friendly too....
p.s. I actually love seeing wild birds. In fact I feed them year round by the house. Figure the population increase of birds, due to feeding, evens out when my barn cats catch a few for lunch out by the hives :-D
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I have a pair of Phoebes that nest in the rafters of my wood shed 5 feet above some of my hives. They sometimes catch flying bees, but I figure that they "earn their keep" in helping to control blackflies.