bees and chickens

[Popparand]

My daughter wants to put beeives near her chickens. Is this wise, or will it lead to war? I would really appreciate advice from anyone ho has tried keeping both.

 

[Finman]

My daughter wants to put beeives near her chickens. Is this wise, or will it lead to war? I would really appreciate advice from anyone ho has tried keeping both.

what do you think yourself? Chicken cannot do any harm to bees.

 

[Anduril]

I have seen chickens and beehives together in a privately run allotment. Also a commercial beekeeper who was giving a talk mentioned a French farmer who has chickens around his hives and doesn't have an Asian hornet problem, due to them being eaten by the chickens. But the temperament of the bees will have some bearing.

 

[masterBK]

I have no personal experience but one of our members who had both in fairly close proximity had one of his chickens stung to death. We have other members who have had no trouble keeping both chickens and bees.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Bees have just killed my chickens.

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5954&highlight=chickens+killed+bees


Bees killed my chicken

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17525&highlight=bees+killed+chicken

 

[Murox]

Going back a few years, my grandfather kept bees, chickens and a horse all in the same space, around a half an acre probably, so not squashed together but in close proximity - never had any problems other than the horse trying use a hive as a rubbing post. they were all WBC hives.

 

[enrico]

No problem. My bees used to stand on the beehives and were always wandering around underneath them looking for goodies. They like drinking grubs too!
E

 

[Griffo]

I keep chickens as well as the bees. Although chickens are pretty dim, they seem to be intelligent enough to keep clear of the immediate proximity of the hives.

 

[birdsandbees]

I had chickens before I had Bees, the chickens were curious at first but soon left them alone with no issues.

 

[Millet]

I keep chickens at one apiary and a neighbor does at the other apiary..the bees ignore the chickens and the chickens ignore the bees... even when the chickens are scratting under the hive stands the bees ignore them.. the chickens also know to give the grounded bees on the floor a wide berth.. i see them looking at the bees but they just turn away and look elsewhere.

 

[Ian123]

For 10 years plus we had chickens and bees in a fenced 20x20m section of the garden inc the chicken shed, about 15 hives and 20-30 chickens. No issues what so ever or none that the chickens would speak of

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Bees and chickens are fine together - until they're not.#
got bees just over the hedge from the chickens with no issues until one day one Q- nuc I was sorting out decided to have a strop.
TaTa three hens.
As long as you don't follow idiotic advice like shook swarming your bees at every full moon (or whatever ritual the BBKA types now follow) you should be OK

 

[Noddy]

One of my apiaries has free range hens and ducks. One of the ducks has scraped out under one of the hives and lays her eggs there.

The chickens clean up all the dead bees, and the odd frame I put out for them.

They all seem to get along fine.

 

[SDM]

Ive got 6nucs on top of my hen house and run at the moment and there's always 15-20 colonies within 30ft ,
Chickens clean up the dead from around the hives.
I haven't read the links yet, but it seems bizzare that chooks could be killed by bees , I've never once seen a bee go after a chicken.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Ive got 6nucs on top of my hen house and run at the moment and there's always 15-20 colonies within 30ft ,
Chickens clean up the dead from around the hives.
I haven't read the links yet, but it seems bizzare that chooks could be killed by bees , I've never once seen a bee go after a chicken.

Occasionally chickens in my apiary will sprint away from a hive if their curiosity about an entrance is unwelcome.
I've yet to see a bee enter the hen house.

 

[Hedgerow Honey]

We have had geese in the same patch with bees at home for three years with no issue.

 

[SDM]

Occasionally chickens in my apiary will sprint away from a hive if their curiosity about an entrance is unwelcome.
I've yet to see a bee enter the hen house.

Mine will get seriously cheeky with entrances early morning, but theyll feed around the hives at all times of day( the dog does too, she'll lick the first bees of the day off the landing boards but knows better than to try that at mid day) Whenever i give them brood comb, there's always a few bees investigating too. Ive not seen any sign of wariness from my usually pretty flighty chooks.
I guess as said, until its an issue( if it ever is) then its no issue.
Ive had the same with horses at an out apiary, they grazw around the hives by night and avoid them in the day. Horses aren't stupid.

 

[Millet]

Ive got 6nucs on top of my hen house and run at the moment and there's always 15-20 colonies within 30ft ,
Chickens clean up the dead from around the hives.
I haven't read the links yet, but it seems bizzare that chooks could be killed by bees , I've never once seen a bee go after a chicken.

100% agree... neither has any reason to cause conflict.. the only negative posts may bee from folk who keep shite bees or angry chickens...

 

[Hivemaker.]

In an adjoining field one of the horses managed to jump into the section of the field where several bee colonies were kept, and it appears that a hive was knocked over and the horse was stung.
The horse panicked, and practically all the hives in the apiary were knocked down, and the horse was severely attacked.
This attracted the other three horses in the field to come over, and these too, were severely stung.
As a result, all four horses died of heart failure.
Our sympathy goes out to the members involved, and we would wish to avoid any such thing ever happening again.

This is a very tragic and rare occurrence, and in many places horses are kept near to bees without any problems, but there is an old saying "bees & horses don't mix", and it would seem that we need to re-learn a salutary lesson.

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11539

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Well regardless of what they who haven't witnessed it keep whittering on about (including the 'expert' who has had bees all of five minutes) I have seen it - not a regular occurrence it must be said, in fact, the bees and chickens happily coexist here, the bees making full use of the drinker in the chicken run, my grandfather keeping hundreds of poultry, sharing the field with the beehives but even one occurrence means that it can happen,so only an idiot would not bear that in mind especially when undertaking a more intrusive than usual manipulation.