Don't the Birds like Bees? (1 Viewer)

Up until 2 weeks ago we were getting numerous Birds in our garden - Sparrows, Blackbirds, Dunnocks, Blue,Great & Coal Tits, Starlings, Robin,Greenfinches,Goldfinches Collared Doves and Pigeons. I was filling my feeders every other day with food and fat balls (big & small).

Then a swarm of Honey Bees came and took up residence in one of our trees, the Birds have dwindled in numbers since then, today I have seen a Blackbird, a Sparrow and a Dunnock ! - Even the Pigeons who are normally sat on the roof waiting to get in first have disappeared.

Thankfully the Bees all decided to look for somwhere new at weekend,but the Birds just seem as if they are not interested in returning.

Has anyone any ideas on this?

We have had the same thing happen both this year and this. I'm not sure if it's the bees causing the problem or simply the 'Summer lull'. Things do have a habit of quietening down at this time of year.

I'm sure it won't be long before the birds start to return, especially if the bees have moved on :t:

Dear Marmot,

I suspect you are just having a summer lull.

I have kept bees in several out apiaries over the years and there has always been a thriving bird population in them.

Tits very quickly learn to tap on the hive and wait for an unfortunate bee to answer the door.

I have seen ducks harvesting bees at the entrance slot, their bills are perfectly suited to this activity, preferring the succulent live ones.

Virgin queens mate on the wing and vulnerable to hungry birds. Many die in this way – bet you are glad you are not a drone.(male)

Your bees will have been a swarm, nature’s way of a colony reproducing itself by division. They roost somewhere like your garden and then move on to a new des res which has been carefully vetted and often cleaned and decorated some days before.

Regards,
G B-S.

I hope you are right.

What I forgot to mention was a few days prior to this I purchased a 25 kilo sack of sunflower hearts (I go through them at an alarming rate normally) and it is still sitting there unopened.

I have just had a look out and I am already 2 up on yesterdays total, a young Starling and a young Coal Tit have just been and fleetingly visited.