Woodpecker Damage

[UEAHoneyBeeMan]

Hi Everyone,

I recently found a hive with the first signs of woodpecker damage. It hadn't penetrated entirely through the side wall but had spent quite some time doing a fair bit of damage.
The hive was one of six in an apiary that had never had woodpecker issues before and none of the hives had any form of protection (Since resolved - Barn door, Horse etc).

If I tap on the side of a hive loudly I get guard bees out pretty quickly to see what's going on and let me know they are not too happy about it, so how does the woodpecker select a hive that won't challenge it?

Does the woodpecker try various hives until it gets a colony that is too weak to be able to defend itself or does it not get stung by the bees generally?

Would the size of the colony make a difference? Larger colony = more bees to defend against the woodpecker?

Any thoughts?

 

[drstitson]

last winter my colony was the only one attacked in the assoc apiary. At the time it was strong and also was really nasty colony to handle - a badly hived swarm that i adopted as none of the beginners at bee club would go near it. everyone had been stung.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Think it is just that it senses the heat, so selects those with the cluster near the side, on poly hives in our assocation apiary they seem always to go for the roof rather than the side

it does not seem to matter as to how aggressive the hive is


green woodpeckers pass on their knowledge to their offspring so you will need protection each year from now on

 

[FreeFall]

Are the Greater Spotted variety of woodpecker also a threat? I have two pairs that regularly visit but they seem much more interested in the peanut feeder only a few feet away.

Nick

 

[winmag270]

but they seem much more interested in the peanut feeder only a few feet away

hmmm, would fitting such a feeder in the apiary discourage the "headbangers" from doing their worst??

in one apiary we had 3 x hives holed last year, unfortunately in one, queeny must have been one of woody's "tasty morsels"

wire netting stopped a repeat happening, but i'd rather find another way of sorting the issue.....

 

[Teemore]

Aren't Green woodpeckers allergic to lead? Not that i am advocating anything of course...

There are no green woodpeckers in Northern Ireland and that is not because they have all been shot!!

 

[tonybloke]

Are the Greater Spotted variety of woodpecker also a threat? I have two pairs that regularly visit but they seem much more interested in the peanut feeder only a few feet away.

Nick

Both the Lesser And the Greater Spotted Woodpeckers don't attack hives, It's only the Green Woodpecker that does As Far As I Know(someone please correct if this is wrong)

 

[susbees]

Are the Greater Spotted variety of woodpecker also a threat? I have two pairs that regularly visit but they seem much more interested in the peanut feeder only a few feet away.

Nick

Ours eat the peanuts through winter and when they have nestlings. Preferred diet is found in old trees so I'd say no risk unless you leave rotting swarm boxes up them!

Green woodpeckers favoured diet is ants. Hence why they like hives. Ground based.

 

[winmag270]

Aren't Green woodpeckers allergic to lead?

how come when i suggested this option last year i got a roasting for it on here......

not that i'd know one end of a shotgun from the other....

now how did i get my user name again??

.270 calibre Winchester Short Magnum

nope, cant remember......

 

[FreeFall]

hmmm, would fitting such a feeder in the apiary discourage the "headbangers" from doing their worst??

It can only be worth a try I guess - I think you would need to make sure the feeders were kept topped up as they may show for dinner one day with a hive as the only option! Old CDs hanging from branches etc. are very good at deterring most birds.

Ours eat the peanuts through winter and when they have nestlings. Preferred diet is found in old trees so I'd say no risk unless you leave rotting swarm boxes up them!

Green woodpeckers favoured diet is ants. Hence why they like hives. Ground based.

Plenty of rotten trees around here, which I guess is why we don't see them much in the summer - they did visit with a young one a couple of times though. So presumably a wild colony in a tree is at risk from the spotted variety?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

A spotted woodpecker is a regular visitor to my garden - but only when the peanuts are topped up. I haven't seen a green one for a few years - last time it was a mother and her fledgelings huting for leatherjackets on the lawn.I used to miss them but strangely now i dhope i don't see them again

 

[susbees]

Swap you some ravens if you do jbm....

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[UEAHoneyBeeMan]

Thanks for the views.
I was hoping there was some kind of woodpecker/bee interaction like bees chasing woodpeckers away when they hear the tapping on the side of the hive.
I'm trying to plan a Behavioural Ecology project as part of the degree course I'm doing and wanted to incorporate my bees in some way. I was hoping there was some kind of defence behaviour that I could quantify in relation to woodpecker attacks.
Back to the drawing board maybe.
Anyone got any other sensible suggestions?

Stewart

 

[tonybloke]

are well behaved bees really good for the gene pool in the long run?

 

[UEAHoneyBeeMan]

Tonybloke,
I assume by "well behaved bees" you are refering to the docile, non-following, good foraging, disease resistant, frugal in winter kind of bees that we are told we should be raising? Good question Tony!!!!

Might be a good question for a 3 yr study but I only have 10 hours worth of data collection time for this mini project.

It needs to be a behavioural trait that I can measure over the next 3 weeks or so.

 

[susbees]

It needs to be a behavioural trait that I can measure over the next 3 weeks or so.

They're gonna love that....finally into winter cluster and you wanna talk to them

 

[tonybloke]

Tonybloke,
I assume by "well behaved bees" you are refering to the docile, non-following, good foraging, disease resistant, frugal in winter kind of bees that we are told we should be raising? Good question Tony!!!!

Might be a good question for a 3 yr study but I only have 10 hours worth of data collection time for this mini project.

It needs to be a behavioural trait that I can measure over the next 3 weeks or so.

not very much data you could collect at the moment, unless you have access to thermal imaging equipment, if so, you could monitor brood rearing vs temperature / daylight hrs
different sub-species may brood differently early in the yr. but you'd need access to several colonies of each strain to make the data worthwhile

 

[The Cumbrian]

Both the Lesser And the Greater Spotted Woodpeckers don't attack hives, It's only the Green Woodpecker that does As Far As I Know(someone please correct if this is wrong)

I don't have any experience of woodpecker attacks but I doubt that either of the Spotted Woodpeckers would attack hives. Green Woodpeckers feed on and near the ground whereas Spotted are much more arboreal (except it would seem at feeders). The Lesser is also getting much rarer than it was and it was never common.

 

[MuswellMetro]

how about moving the hive and putting an identical empty hive on the site, with a heater on one internal wall, see if they attack that

 

[BeeJayBee]

We have green woodpeckers that visit our garden, and have been advised that we should put some netting round our hives because they like to attack the hand holds ... but I don't know whether they are more likely to attack the front, sides or back of the hive.

My first thought was that a sensible woodpecker would be subtle, and go for the back, furthest away from the entrance, but a hungry one is more likely to listen and work out where the most bees are, and choose that side.

It needs to be a behavioural trait that I can measure over the next 3 weeks or so.

When you've decided your question maybe a forum poll would help get some quick answers?