Bird eating my bees

Noticed a mess on a bench near the entrance to the hive and another one under a branch of a tree about 2 feet away. At first I just thought some birds had taken shelter from the rain.. But then I noticed the bird mess was littered with bee bodies Generally just the back 1/2.. Stingers still in them.
Then I saw a small yellow bird swooping in and catching bees in the air and then sitting on a branch and eating them.
Never noticed this type of bird before, but it is really eating well.
Piles of bee remains in a couple of places. Quite a few actually...

Anyone else having this problem ??

I have had two blue jays working my at home hives all summer.

That is very dangerous to you bees and your business. Bee-eaters always prefer to eat honeybees since the latter have better taste than the other bees.What is more scary is that if the breed of the bee-eater in the one that can eat 250 bees in one day. Don't let those birds settle at your backyard where your bees are near.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by virgiea68

That is very dangerous to you bees and your business. Bee-eaters always prefer to eat honeybees since the latter have better taste than the other bees.What is more scary is that if the breed of the bee-eater in the one that can eat 250 bees in one day. Don't let those birds settle at your backyard where your bees are near.

---

Say, What?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by virgiea68

Bee-eaters always prefer to eat honeybees since the latter have better taste than the other bees.

---

Hmm, I wonder if that was blind taste test?

http://www.weeksbay.org/photo_galler...2--11-x-14.jpg

did it look like this little guy (girl really). if so she is probably passing through on the way south and will be gone in a couple of days. Doubt she can do any real damage to your bees. I believe true bee eaters are in the old world (africa, europe and asia) and do not reside on the North Shore ;)

tell that to the mockingbirds here. and what's worse, they seem to have a special appetite for mated queens!

Get a cat. Kills mice too.

I have a cat I'm training to live in the apiary. Mockingbirds, when they run out of my grapes and tomatoes, do seem to have a taste for bees.

Deleted

is laughing permitted? Great video - no, I'm not in it.
:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gypsi

is laughing permitted? Great video - no, I'm not in it.
:)

---

Glad that you enjoyed it. I had second thoughts after I posted. I was afraid that you may have been offended. Not everyone thinks that my humor is funny.

Actually herding cats would be quite the thing. I've got a couple of ferals stalking the fenced apiary lot, and I couldn't catch them to save my life, but food and shelter and stuff to hunt are great motivators. I've also got a redtailed hawk hunting that lot, but he or she prefers sparrows to bees.