Are PMs a threat to local beekeepers?

[CurtWelling]

I have a friend that I had talked into getting martin housing up, he has an ideal site. But now he is getting cold feet.

He is also a beekeeper and is worried about Martins eating his queens and drones when they are on their mating flight.

Anyone have experience with this? I want to say that the martins will be hunting 200-400 feet up and the bees will be down low but I'm not sure how true this is.

[Louise Chambers]

They are not, Curt - there are quite a few martin landlords who are also beekeepers - one of them is Jim Ray of Canyon, TX, who's written an article about martins and honeybees for the Update.

Martins will eat some bees, but they will not specialize in them, or focus on the bees - instead they will eat a diverse range of insect species.

[James Strickland FL]

I keep bees for years when I was in AL and never had a problem with Martins taking any. My hives were right under my Martin pole.

[~Ray~Gingerich]

I know of a local landlord who went completely out of the martin business because he thought martins were killing off his bees. Another landlord reduced his colony because a neighbor complained about martins taking his bees. More likely the cause is Missing bee syndrome.

[Gobbler T]

I hope not! I put in a hive in Aug. It's only about 30 feet away from my pole's. Given the choice, Ill take the martin's!