Chickens

[biglad]

Hi would it be ok to let my chickens run free in my apiary . Or would they eat my bees ?

 

[Erichalfbee]

The bees might eat them......
I seem to remember a thread here some time ago about hens being attacked by bees.
However.
I used to keep my bees in a two acre field and the chickens had the run of it too.They seemed to get along after being put in their place a few times

 

[Bosveldleeu]

I have never seen a chicken eat a bee. My chickens share the garden with about 6 hives and are often under or between the hives, even when I am working the bees. My bees and chickens have so far ignored each other for the last 4 years.

If the bees are in a bad mood they can sting the chickens and we heard of a case where chickens have been attacked by bees and stung so badly the stingers had to be removed form their combs by the dozen. Chickens were fine in the end. This might of course not always be the case so I suppose there is always a risk.

So far I have never seen even a single sting with mine though, so will probably keep going with my current system.

The experiences of others may differ of course.

 

[snoop]

I have them all in the one place & they seem to respect each other. Chickens don't peck at the hives Bees & chickens all drink form the same water.
The chickens love drone brood that I uncap to check for varroa. Last year they got loads of it , this year the chickens get very little. ,

 

[biglad]

Thanks for the replys many thanks will let them out tomorrow cheers Neil

 

[Headnavigator]

My bees and chickens simply ignore each other. However the darn blackbirds are constantly picking off bees and have been quite a problem - 3 nests within 2 metres of the hives and three large broods brought up on yummy bees - as they did last year too.
At least the chickens give us eggs, I wouldn't begrudge them a few bees.

 

[dpearce4]

Our chickens clear up the dead bees from the landing board.

the guard bees arnt always to happy about it and come out and have a pop at the chicken but most the time they are ok together.

 

[RosieMc]

I've had chickens and hives in my garden now for 4 years with no problems. In fact the chicken can be helpful in eating up those slugs that find their way into the hive when the weather is wet. I have heard that chicken will eat up drone brood left out for them, but mine are too fussy and won't touch it

 

[blackcavebees]

As above, 3 years now together, no problems

 

[Hivemaker.]

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

 

[MuswellMetro]

well, i find it easier to buy fresh free range eggs from a farm at £1.10 half a dozen

 

[Mart_got_hives]

I was surprised by the two threads about bees killing chickens

In my garden I have 3 ex cage hens and three hives (and a feral cat). The only problems I've had are with the birds stealing wax (cut burr comb, scrapings, etc) and getting underfoot if I didn't lock them up during an inspection. I've yet to see one catch a live bee.

A concern I had was the possibility of a swarm moving into the coop so i have a few bait boxes dotted about with a little lemongrass oil to hopefully reduce the chance of that if a swarm slips past me.

I'd also suggest making sure the bees have a bigger, better, closer water source than the chooks waterers just to minimise bird/bee encounters. I have a bird bath and a wildlife pond sat between the hives and the chicken run where the bird waterers are. The bees find the birdbath and middle pond before they reach the birds waterers and whilst the birds initially tried the ponds after a couple of soakings they learnt to leave them alone.

 

[drstitson]

all our poultry has free reign to roam around and over the hives. never a problem. same with the cats.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

all our poultry has free reign to roam around and over the hives. never a problem. same with the cats.

Same here. No problems between the species. The hives are just above chicken head height and the bees have a water bowl with a rock in to land on. This sits on the hive stand and the chickens have a seperate drinker.

 

[beebombus]

Hi, regarding the chickens (and livestock generally) i`ve found where there is plenty of space they will live in harmony of sorts, however on a cautionary note many years ago I had a disastrous evening when a nasty colony i was going through stung my fathers 12 chickens so badly they killed 8!
I must stress here that i was at fault for keeping the bees in a confined area with the chickens and going through them when the conditions were not ideal.

 

[milkermel]

i have a good sized flock and they scratch around the hives with no problems, sheep have learnt that although boxes seem like nice scratching posts the following itch just isnt worth it!!

 

[Paulf]

I have 120 chickens 10 ft from hive all seems well

 

[eleanor20]

My chickens are around my hives too. Only problems I have had have been when inspecting bees, I now always take some corn to distract the hens while I work with the bees. Otherwise you take the roof off the hive and turn it over, place on the floor; turn back to the hive lift off super, turn to put it on upturned roof but there's a chicken standing in it!