# Wild Turkeys



## BadBeeKeeper (Jan 24, 2015)

Estell Tabor said:


> Has anyone had any problems with wild turkeys eating their bees. I just moved 3 hives to the farm and i have a good population of wild turkeys. I'm talking about them standing in front of the hives and eating them. I've been told they will.


I have a large wild turkey population here. They don't bother the hives at all.

My biggest issue with them is when they go over the garden fence and tromp all over the young seedlings.


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## beeware10 (Jul 25, 2010)

never heard of that. no problems and lots of turkeys here. probably more computer nonsense.


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## beepeep (Feb 8, 2015)

No problem with turkey, chickens, geese or peacock. We also have pileated and flicker woodpeckers which are large. But no problem with them. The local deer, coyote and raccoon seems to ignore the hive also.


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

Wild turkey vocalizations are the sound track of my spring bee-work - there are tons of them here on my farm. I have them roosting in the tall evergreens which are the windbreak about 10' behind my hive stands. I occasionally see their tracks in the snow in front of the hives in the winter and early spring. I have never seen them on the game cam that watches over my hive during the warm months. If they ate a few of the bees that died in the snow over the winter, they are welcome to them - the chickdees wion't be pleased about sharing, but otherwise it's fine.

My hives are up on 18" -22" tall stands, so not on the ground, Perhaps that makes the diffrence?

Enj.


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## zhiv9 (Aug 3, 2012)

Estell Tabor said:


> Has anyone had any problems with wild turkeys eating their bees. I just moved 3 hives to the farm and i have a good population of wild turkeys. I'm talking about them standing in front of the hives and eating them. I've been told they will.


Turkeys have never been a problem. Skunks and bears are a problem.


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## woodsy (Mar 3, 2013)

I've seen chickadees take honeybees but not turkeys.
Turkeys here walk behind the hives instead of in front. 
Maybe smarter than they look...


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

I've never seen turkeys do that. Or chickens. I've had turkeys fly into the coop and eat scratch with the chickens though. I wouldn't worry about the turkeys....at least from what I've experienced.


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## lemmje (Feb 23, 2015)

I love wild turkey! But i wouldn't drink just prior to cracking a hive.....

Come on, everyone was think that!


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## philip.devos (Aug 10, 2013)

I have several wrens camp out in front of my hives taking bees; 
We don't have turkeys around here.


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Young turkeys (less than a year old) will eat bees - insects are their main diet. I have more problems with bluebirds, mockingbirds, and a dozen other species that eat perhaps a hundred bees a day. I throw gravel at the tree every time I notice one. Several birds usually take off. I moved the hives up onto a stand on the side of the hill, which appears to make things a lot more difficult for the birds than when they were on flat ground.


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## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

I wish we had turkeys here. The state stocked them here in the early 80's but they never made it.

While we are dispelling bird myths, Purple Martins aren't a problem either. I have had over 100 pairs of them for a decade and was 100% successful on my very small scale queen production last year. 10 for 10.


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## jdmidwest (Jul 9, 2012)

If anyone has a problem with turkeys, I can help. They taste better than honey and more fun to get.


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

Apiary security is no problem...


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

Love those Lauri!


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## SouthTexasJohn (Mar 16, 2015)

Very nice pics Lauri.


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## missybee (Sep 6, 2014)

I have a ton of birds here, they are never near the hives. (we can see the hives via our cameras on our security system)
Our wild turkeys stay out in the fields, skunks have not bothered the hives, yet, lol.

Cute shots Laurie, my pup won't go near the hives, she hears buzzing right away goes a different direction, she has been stung a few times by wasps on apples and bees on clover.


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## SalsaMom (Jan 15, 2015)

My hubby would be HAPPY to take care of any turkey troubles for anyone in a reasonable driving distance 
Wild turkey meat is deeee-licious! The booze a'int too bad either - har har har!


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## Scpossum (May 4, 2014)

No turkey problems, but my german shorthair eats them like candy.


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## jk3campbell (Feb 11, 2015)

Since someone else brought up martins. We had a martin house about 30 feet from the beeyard when I was a kid. Only problem we ever had was when a swarm tried to take over the martin house. The martins made a heck of a racket until we got the swarm hived.


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## Sonoramic413 (Aug 10, 2013)

Scpossum said:


> No turkey problems, but my german shorthair eats them like candy.


We have a German Shepherd that does that. I'd say it's the sweet center, but he loves grasshoppers too


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