[Beetastic]

I was at the yard the other day and bees were flying real well. Then I noticed a couple of swallows working the air and picking off bees here and there. And then to my surprise came along a tiny cluster of agitated bees - maybe 50-100 - chasing a swallow. The cluster was all around the bird, and you could see her it trying to shake them off. I thought that was pretty cool, especially since I was to have some queens emerge in a day or two. Anybody else seen this before? I wonder if the bees were all from the same colony, or different ones? Either way, it was a pretty cool sight to see.

 

[Finorknerbee]

Drones perhaps?

 

[odfrank]

I have seen a few at a time chasing swallows.

 

[philip.devos]

Wish they would chase wrens. Murderous wrens sit in front of my hives eating innocent bees.

 

[burns375]

I seen them case swallows but not in a group. The bees will also chase hummingbirds of the feeders during times of dearth.

 

[mpgreer]

earlier this summer, i was out there waving my arms like an idiot trying to discourage the swallows who were dive bombing my hives. then i saw a big bee take off after one of them. might have been a drone. he was holding his own speed-wise.

 

[Beetastic]

These were definitely workers. It was pretty cool. Neat to hear other people have seen the same. Now if they would just go after the wrens

 

[Retroguy]

Looks like I have something to look forward to whether for better or worse. I've got plenty of barn swallows around here, also brown thrashers, wrens & sparrows (although I have a few cats that get a bird now and then).

 

[dsegrest]

Drones can't sting and that swallow was probably too big for their other endeavor.

 

[mike martel]

I have a small koi pond about 22ft x 16ft. and 2 hives 20 yds. from it. birds were swooping down snatching bees.
A heron was flying over the pond licking its chops. I went to the hardware store and got a 1 foot owl that has a rudder
on its head that moves it when there is a breeze. My backyard is now a no fly zone. i move the owl every week
to a different spot. happy me happy bees happy fish.

 

[dsegrest]

I have a friend who did the owl bit. A real owl came and destroyed his fake owl.

 

[BeeGora]

I have a friend who did the owl bit. A real owl came and destroyed his fake owl.

Now that's funny. Started my day off with a laugh.

 

[Phoebee]

My screen name here is based on the name of our place, "The Phoebe's Nest." It is named for a little flycatcher that always nests there. We've always figured the Phoebes would eat some of our bees. And we've seen them perched near the hives, and even swoop in to grab a discarded pupae or dead bee from the ground. We've never seen them go after live bees in the air, but have seen them grab other insects in mid air.

Maybe they learned their lesson early.

We have the fake owl, but I think it no longer impresses anyone. We're hoping the screech owls adopt the nest box we put up for them, as that's the only effective control for the flying squirrels that chew the stain off our log cabin. Protected ... we can't touch the squirrels, but the owls can.

 

[Bob J]

I love to sit and watch the sparrows try and get a drink from the bird bath this time of year.... As soon as they land a cloud of bees comes up from drinking and the sparrow quickly leaves.....;- )

 

[Phoebee]

I love to sit and watch the sparrows try and get a drink from the bird bath this time of year.... As soon as they land a cloud of bees comes up from drinking and the sparrow quickly leaves.....;- )

Our bees share the poultry feeder with the Goldfinches quite peacefully.