I have both. Neither bothers the other. In the summer I keep a chicken waterer near the hives and on hot days the chickens visit the bee watering hole and everyone is calm. No problems.

 

Bees and chickens generally ignore each other. In an abundance of caution, don't confine the chickens close to a hive. For example, you would not want to put a hive in a run and lock up the chickens with the bees. You just want to avoid a situation where if bees got worked up and started stinging chickens the chickens could not run away. Otherwise, no issues at all. A large percentage of beekeepers have chickens.

 

I have a flock of free range bantams that keep bugs down. About once a week during warm weather I scatter some scratch under my hives. Those girls come around every day scratching and looking for a treat. My hope is they find the occasional SHB larva and enjoy it as a snack. They do eat dead bees but I've never caught one eating a live bee.

 

Chickens and bees here too, no problems.

 

The only time my chickens go near the bees is when I am sitting on a five gallon bucket watching the bees. The chickens are nosy and follow me everywhere.
Cheers
gww

 

I'm really surprised no one has has the issue we have had of bee flight paths going through a chicken run, which leads to them being eatten by the feistier chickens in rather large numbers. If this happens, the best you can do is put up some sort of solid block that changes the flight paths.

 

Kaz.....

I'm really surprised no one has has the issue we have had of bee flight paths going through a chicken run, which leads to them being eatten by the feistier chickens in rather large numbers. If this happens, the best you can do is put up some sort of solid block that changes the flight paths.

I do find this amazing. Two years in a row on the first few flying days of spring, the bees just mob my chicken feeder. I have never seen a chicken eat a bee.
Cheers
gww

 

Our chickens frequently hangout under the hives looking for bugs. They don't care about the bees.

 

Chickens and bees are a great mix, both before and after harvest.

Pancakes, honey, and eggs.

Fried chicken and honey mustard sauce.

 

My bees are in my chicken run. The chickens keep the ground under and around the hives cleaned up but have never munched on live bees as far as I know. They approach the hives very cautiously and never from the front. I use screened bottom boards in the summer and I assume they also eat the nasty things that fall from the hives.

 

Thanks, all...exactly what I was hoping to hear!

And excellent point, JConnolly!

 

kass......

And excellent point, JConnolly!

I thought his point was terrible. If points like that keep being made after dinner, I am going to weigh 400 lbs.
Cheers
gww

 

kass......


I thought his point was terrible. If points like that keep being made after dinner, I am going to weigh 400 lbs.
Cheers
gww

 

I don't keep chickens but one of my students does. And her free range chickens come over when we are working on the hives. Any burr comb that has drone brood is thrown to them after we check it for mitres. The rooster claims it, but then stands guard over it while the hens actually consume it.

Enj.

 

Don't have chicken but I would put if you start seeing drown bees. Put some rocks in the water to keep from drowning

 

I have both and they do fine together. One change I'm considering though is fencing the chickens' free range area off a bit so they won't be around the hives. During the day the chickens have the side yard to roam (I'm in the city) and in 2-3 yrs. they've gotten it down to dirt in most places as anything that sprouts up is eaten. I want to plant some bee-friendly plants around the hives but will need to fence in the chickens if I want anything to make it.
I'd considered this for a bit and recently saw a chicken jump up, grab one of my blueberry limbs in her beak, drag it down, and while she tore at the leaves, the others ate leaves from the branch. That did it for me.
While the bees and chickens coexist fine, the chickens and vegetation do not.

 

I have qalways been told the chickens won't eat the bees for fear of getting stung in the throat!True or not I don't know?

 

I have chickens and guineas and do not have a problem, actually feed drone comb to the chickens which they don't seem to care much about. I mentored a new beekeeper a couple of years ago who decided to put his 2 hives on the south side of an old barn, got a frantic call from him one morning that swallows roosting in the barn were picking his forages off as they left the hives. After researching swallows and bees the story was that the swallows would eventually get stung in the throat and decide to leave the bees alone after that, although they said that the swallows learn to eat drones and queens if they find them.
Johno

 

Hmm, so chickens do not step on bees? Last year I had to remove a stinger from my duck’s foot twice.

 

Ducks must not be a smart as chickens. Sting me once, shame on you, sting me twice, shame on me.

 

My chickens were always free range. Once in a great while I would see a hen eat a bee and then look unhappy about it... but not often. Being free range they could run away from the bees if they needed to.

 

No prob Bob.

Of course, once the electric fence went up the chickens couldn't go near the hives anyway. I wish they could, they might deter the mouse population.

 

I have chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese (and of course bees) and have never seen any problems. Even when the bees are all over the chicken feed (who knows) the birds don't seem to care.

 

I haven't seen my chickens do this, but my ducks will eat bees out of the air while they're hovering over the grass/clover flowers.

 

I don't think you'll have any issues. I have both and have never had an issue.
The only reason I see bees near my coop is because they absolutely love the rabbit poop that collects in the compost pile that is directly behind it.

 

I have had chickens for a while and I just got some bees. However, they are quite separated from each other so I don't think they will interact at all.
I have heard that chickens will eat bees, just like other birds that eat bees, but not enough that would cause any concern. Dead bees for sure great for protein for the chickens.

 

Mine won't eat bees dead or alive. They do however enjoy drone brood and some occasional honey comb.