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Blue birds #870693

Asked May 30, 2024, 7:27 AM EDT

New bee keeper here. I have blue bird houses about 100 yards away from my new hive. Looks like I have blue birds and a swallow in the 2 boxes. I see them swooping around the open field. Are they eating my new bees!? Thank you

Lapeer County Michigan

Expert Response

Thanks for reaching out with this question. I'm not aware of birds being a major predator of honey bees in Michigan. In my beekeeping experience, even if some birds eat adult honey bee workers, they do not cause noticeable damage to a colony.

I'm not an expert in birds, but here is what I was able to find about Eastern Bluebird and Barn Swallow diets:

Managing Habitat for Eastern Bluebirds (psu.edu): "Insects, including grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, and caterpillars, make up 68 percent of a bluebird's diet, while the remaining 32 percent is fruit."

The Eastern Bluebird (umd.edu): "Throughout the breeding season, mating pairs can be seen bringing the nestlings crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, and moth larvae."

Barn Swallow (umd.edu): "In addition to flies, Barn Swallows consume beetles, leafhoppers, wasps, ants, moths, grasshoppers, and crickets."

Thank you Anna!  I'm going to err on the side of removing the bird houses.  I just can't get past the swollows swooping and feeding across the open field in front of the hive and thinking that they have to be picking off the bees,  Might be totally wrong but as I said, I'm going to err on the side of the bees.   I was at last Tuesday's meeting in Lapper.  Nice job on the presentation! Great Information for sure.  Also appreciate knowing the resources that MSU provides.
Dan Zernec

On Thu, May 30, 2024 at 9:17 AM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied May 30, 2024, 1:27 PM EDT

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