Observed our colony eating honey bees

JeanS · Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:15 pm

During a lull in the rainy weather yesterday afternoon, I went out to flip crickets to the PMs. Bert told me to start flipping to the left part of our yard because he noticed several PMs were flying around in that area.

That's when we noticed the bees were swarming from our bee hive, which is located in that section of the yard. Hundreds and then thousands of bees were taking to the air. Before my eyes, and at close range, I saw a feeding frenzy. All of our hungry PMs were gobbling up the bees like crazy.

I was worried about the PMs getting multiple sting bites and falling ill. I watched them carefully, but they seem alright.

The whole thing was quite surprising to me. I'm still amazed by the experience. And perfect timing on the honey bees' swarming! Our colony was very hungry and stressed from all the cold rainy weather. They really needed an easy feast.

Guest · Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:29 pm

Okay Jean ,I had read somewhere that the PM's will eat any of the stingers but have never seen it. You have a built in restaurant for your PM's ,fresh food on the fly and you didn't need to do anything. LOL

dick

Matt F. · Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:38 pm

Hi Jean.

I wouldn't worry too much about the Martins getting stung. They seem to be able to eat wasps, hornets, etc., and fair okay.

Honey bees (thankfully) seem to make up a very low percentage of a Martin's diet. Your Martins were just taking advantage of the bee swarm, due to the extreme conditions. Hopefully they still appreciated your cricket flipping!

There was an issue that arose back in 60s, where a guy in the Houston area starting making the claim that Purple Martins were major honey bee eaters, and they were causing problems for beekeepers.

It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. The birds that were being seen ravenously eating the honey bees, were in fact Eastern Kingbirds - commonly known as "Bee Martins".

Matt F. · Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:40 pm

One other thing.

Promise us, that in the event of any future, bad weather events, you won't make Burt go outside and poke the beehive, to feed the Martins!

BertS · Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:40 pm

Matt,

Thanks for the moral support.

Emil Pampell-Tx · Mon Mar 16, 2009 2:10 pm

A remarkable experience, I have never seen them eat bees. I suppose that with the warm weather and the rain, the martins were home and hungry, and they saw a meal!

I will check our housing today at about 2PM to see if I find any dead. They went for 4 days without them eating, but the weather was in the 40s and 50s, so I think the cold did not hurt them. That warm weather may have allowed the martins to "last" longer without food.

They went out early today in the fog, and they were back at 11AM, cleaning their beaks, and they looked full and frisky. Finally today we had the beautiful sunshine, and I know the martins were happy.

Thanks, Jean, for the report!

jtafaro · Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:27 pm

As a long time bee keeper I know when they swarm they can't sting. The workers that swarm will gorge themselves with honey before they leave the hive with the new queen and they can't flex their abdomens to sting. You can approach a swarm and they won't attack. I DID IT RECENTLY WITH A SWARM IN A WATER METER AND THEY DIDN'T BOTHER ME. Beekeepers think martins will eat bees but they usually don't fly high enough for the PM's to catch them.

Joe

Martin man RI · Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:43 pm

At one of my colony's I had a hive of Cicada killer wasps and the martins
were feeding on them last year was a Cicada year and there predators were
on the look out for them. I found parts of the bee's in the martins nest.
The bee's are super large. The martins were flying low
and have a feast and were feeding young so they were a fast easy meal.
Ray

Donnie Hurdt MN · Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:38 am

jtafaro, I beg to differ with your statement about bees not stinging when swarming.
My Dad used to raise bees when I was young and one of my jobs was to keep an eye on the hives when it was time to swarm so my Dad could catch the swarm and start a new hive.
One day my Mom,Dad and I were watching a swarm and withought any provacation from any of us a bee flew directly out of the swarm landed on my face and stung me directly beetween my eyes. Needles to say my face swelled up so much that both of my eyes were swelled closed for a while. Quite terrifying to a small child, somthing I will never forget.
Also my dad has been stung so many times handling swarms of bees that he quit swelling up from the stings and a doctor told him that he had built up imunity to the stings.
Now, dont get me wrong, I like bees, and I am very tolerant of them being around the yard and wouldent mind having a hive in my yard but we have enough trouble with the occaisional black bear in the yard to encourage them more.