# Birds attacking my Hives



## beerated (May 13, 2010)

The past few days I have had my hives attacked by a female cardinal. I tried putting chicken wire in front of my hives. She then just simply waits either on fence top or on the roof of the hives,then get the bees while in flight.Today I bought a fake Owl and put it on top of one of the hives. 2 hours went by so far. Cardinal only did a quick fly by. Any suggestions?


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## honeybeekeeper (Mar 3, 2010)

I just walked out to do just a visual check on the hives just to make sure everything looked okay and i was swarmed by a half dozen robins. Whats going on with these birds are they looney or what???..hahaha There was several robin that was flying right above my head, i have no idea what they was attempting to do or what their intentions was...I have no idea!! hahaha


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## DRUR (May 24, 2009)

Birds have to eat, same as the Bees. Do I really need to teach you about the Birds and the Bees?

Time it and actually see how many the bird eats, and then don't worry about it unless there becomes a flock.


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## DRUR (May 24, 2009)

I know you missed my prior post about the 3 "S's". Robins are probably migratory and probably federally protected, and I would never suggest that you break man's laws, oh NO, NOT ME.


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## beerated (May 13, 2010)

So far that bird got 10 by the entrance and 8 on the fly. Who knows how high it will go. I also put a bird feeder around 60 feet away from the hives. Maybe she'll take the bait.


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## honeybeekeeper (Mar 3, 2010)

Well how many is a flock??..If a flock consists of 15+ birds then i have a flock...I guess im gonna have to go get me one of them hoot owls or a rubber snake...i bet they are used to the rubber snake trick by now. I guess im gonna have to think of something since i always obey the law!.... hahaha

Beerated let me know if you figure out a solution cause i have the same problem!!!


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## beerated (May 13, 2010)

She got 18 in 10 minutes. 8 airborn and 10 right out of the entrance.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

What is your rational for placing a higher "value" on a few bees versus a Cardinal? So what if the Cardinal is dining on some of your bees. (BTW, I doubt very much it's a Cardinal since they are seed eating birds.) Why are people so quick to resort to killing to "solve"  a problem, Hambone? I guess beekeepers aren't much different than the other special interest groups. It's all about their own narrow interest. Do the math. You realize how many bees a bird would have to eat to make a significant impact on a Spring/Summer hive?


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## beerated (May 13, 2010)

Barry,You are right. I guess the birds finally noticed the hives.


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## dcross (Jan 20, 2003)

The owl will lose effectiveness quickly unless it's moved frequently. Keep in mind they're probably adding 1000+ workers/day and that bird is probably starving with the weather in the area lately, if you're having the cold spell we've been going through.

What did the robins do "wrong" exactly?


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## StevenG (Mar 27, 2009)

I have six hives in the back yard, and my wife keeps a bird feeder on the deck about 70 ' from the hives... birds at the feeder all the time, and in 5 years I've never noticed birds feeding on my bees...


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## beerated (May 13, 2010)

Well So far the Owl decoy is working and the bird is at least 15 feet away from the hive. If a bee happens to go off course near the bird,which has happened so be it. Open air space,survival of the quickest then!
As noted I will move the decoy around every day or so.


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## jack Jones (Mar 3, 2009)

A bird that looks like a female cardinal is a summer Tanager and the main diet of this bird is bees I had the same problem last year and used the sss method to solve the problem. The female tanager is a dark colored bird and also enjoys bees.


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

Barry said:


> Why are people so quick to resort to killing to "solve"  a problem, Hambone?


I am a shoot first ask questions later type of guy. Guess it go's back to my younger years when Mockingbirds were mesing with my cat. So I poped'em. :shhhh: (Texas State Bird) Well come to find out they were defening their young/nest. So I leave them alone now. Unless I see them on my maters. So if I see something in my garden or messin with my bees their getting it. 

Disclamer:

I did save a crackle from death 2 days ago. My daughters outside cat came running by with a baby in its mouth. I grabed the cat and saved the bird. But the bird hopped into the neighbors yard upon witch their dog killed it. So it really turned out to be an epic fail. But I tried.


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## Beeslave (Feb 6, 2009)

This ones for you Derek



Barry said:


> I've gotta take my pellet gun to work with me tomorrow. Had a big one about 25 feet from me today. Do I really need a permit?


My amish neighbor's guinneas were eating my bees for weeks at my home yard. I went and asked him how I can solve the problem of his livestock eating my livestock. He told me to shoot them and I said if I am shooting them I will be eating them. I haven't seen the guinnes since and I didn't get to taste any either. I guess the neighbor felt it was better that he ate them instead of me.


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## Holly (Mar 15, 2010)

I put CD's on fishing line and hung them from the trees aroung the hives. That plus the hawk decoy has helped. 
I wouldn't mind the birds eating the bees but they are new packages and it seems unfair the birds were picking them off the bottom board in the morning when the bees were to cold to fly.


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## dcross (Jan 20, 2003)

jack Jones said:


> I had the same problem last year and used the sss method to solve the problem.


You're getting the third s wrong.


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

Beeslave said:


> This ones for you Derek


That's funny.


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## jhs494 (May 6, 2009)

Last year we had a cardinal bothering one of our hives. I bought a cheap rubber snake and set it on top of the telescoping cover. The birds left them alone after that.
When the County Apiary inspector came over we got a little chuckle from his surprise when he first approached the hives. 

He commented that he was tempted to take it to the next persons hives he was to inspect, and place it inside the outer cover.


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## beerated (May 13, 2010)

Well the bird is still hanging around. I think the Owl has proved to be only a temporary deterent. Now the bird sits up on a neighbors garage roof and swoops down as soon as a bee trys to fly out from the hive.She is there bright and early and stays out until sunset.Gonna try cds or pie pans.
Last night my hive was visited by a curious baby rabbit. I don't think the
rabbit is interested.


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## Oldbee (Sep 25, 2006)

The Cardinal.
_"Well the bird is still hanging around... She is there bright and early and stays out until sunset."--beerated._

Does this mean you watch your hives and the Cardinal,...24-7? You may need another,.. diversion or 'hobby' to take your mind off this obsession that birds eat bees on ocassion. Get a job,..take your wife out to dinner!

If you are obsessed about this, you could hide yourself with a pair of binoculars,.. in a field of sweet clover, fireweed;..Black locust trees in the spring and Linden or Sourwood trees in the summer; asters and goldenrod in the autumn too,..all around the country. Observe all the birds, make scientific,.. accurate notations of all birds seen,..swooping down and eating bees.

Who knows,....:applause: you may discover the new avant guarde and irrevocable proof of the cause for CCD.!! :lpf: Honey bees leave the colony,..never to return. Well,.of course not, they were all gobbled up by massive flocks of [Cardinals] hungry migrating birds.

_*{sss}......>>> *"Many of the stories that surround the life of *St. Francis of Assisi* deal with his love for __animals__.[22] Perhaps the most famous incident that illustrates the Saint's humility towards nature is recounted in the "Fioretti" ("Little Flowers"), a collection of __legends__ and folklore that sprang up after the Saint's death. It is said that, one day, while Francis was traveling with some companions, they happened upon a place in the road where *birds* filled the trees on either side. Francis told his companions to "wait for me while I go to preach to my sisters the birds".[22] The birds surrounded him, drawn by the power of his voice, and not one of them flew away. Francis spoke to them:_
_*My sister birds*, you owe much to God, and you must always and in everyplace give praise to Him; for He has given you freedom to wing through the sky and He has clothed you... you neither sow nor reap, *and God feeds you* and gives you rivers and fountains for your thirst, and mountains and valleys for shelter, and tall trees for your nests. And although you neither know how to spin or weave, God dresses you and your children, for the Creator loves you greatly and He blesses you abundantly. Therefore... always seek to praise God._​


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## ENCRickey (Aug 2, 2008)

If I had a bird causing me this much grief, I would just shoot it.


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## Oldbee (Sep 25, 2006)

"If I had a bird causing me this much grief, I would just shoot it."

What grief? Ob.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

ENCRickey said:


> I would just shoot it.


You and others, but there are laws protecting certain birds. I'm not sure we know 100 percent yet what kind of bird is eating some of the bees. Both Cardinal and Robin would be protected.

http://www.pacificwildlife.org/info/Online Docs/fmbtaList.pdf

http://www.ibiblio.org/pardo/birds/archive/archive4/msg00822.html

As to Beeslave using my quote to imply that I have double standards or something like that, I see no comparison between a game bird that one can obtain permits for to hunt and eat, and a protected bird eating some bees that one would not eat, unless Beeslave isn't telling us everything. Do you eat songbirds? I'm pretty sure you don't eat coyotes either.


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## ENCRickey (Aug 2, 2008)

The odds of anyone missing one bird that is causing me enough stress that I feel the need to get rid of if are so very small I would not even worry about it. You are on top of the food chain DEAL WITH IT.


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## Oldbee (Sep 25, 2006)

*sss= shoot, shovel, and sin.*
*sss= selfishness, stupidity, and sin*

sss= save, serenity and,... salvation.
sss= serenity, songbirds and,.. salvation.
sss= shared environement, sweet clover and supers [of honey].

sss= Please fill in the blanks for sss, all you creative people on Beesource as we go along here. I can't think of any good ones right now. 
sss= Sue Bees, Success,,South Dakota?
sss =Songbirds,.tranquillity and serendipity.
sss =Sounds, silence, serenades, and songbirds.
sss= Sonnets, Shelley,.. and Shakespeare
sss= Sand, Sandpipers and the,..sea.
sss= Shallots, sesame oil, and shrimp from an unpolluted sea.


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## beerated (May 13, 2010)

Just came back from beekers meeting. I passed around a photo of this bird. Its a Summer Tanager. Her main diet is bees. This bird usually travels along the Mississippi near forested areas of pine and oak. For some reason,maybe increased bird population after west nile,more different species are around the citys. Some beekeepers gave me advice about putting a reflective garden ball near the hives to scare aware the bird. Others said just to wait it out. Shes just migrating through going up north to Wisconsin. I guess I wait.


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## dthompson (Feb 10, 2008)

The trick with owl decoys is to have more than one
The idea is that one of the decoys are behind the bird where it
can't see it all the time. Makes the bird "nervous"
Idealy three owls spaced 10-20 yds apart in a triangle

dave


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## beerated (May 13, 2010)

i'll try 2 more hooters.. thanks


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## Beeslave (Feb 6, 2009)

Barry said:


> Do you eat songbirds? I'm pretty sure you don't eat coyotes either.


As to your first question-Sit fully camoflauged in a gile suit on public hunting grounds near a city with a high density of Hmongs. If it moves they shoot it and it goes into there backpack. Ask one of them how they taste. I don't think it tastes any different than morning dove, pigeon or crow.

For question #2- No I don't eat yotes but there is more other little critters to shoot and eat when I keep the yote population down. My neighbors lambs, calves, goats, cats and small dogs are safer. The bigger the yote pile gets the happier all the neighbors are.


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## beerated (May 13, 2010)

Hanging computer CD'S above the hives did the trick! Bye, Bye Birdie....


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