Barn Swallows Swallowing Our Bees!

[buzzbee]

Wonder if hey will be so forgiving of varroa or wax moths?
As far as mosquitos,the bats work after dark when the bees are back at the hive.

[fish_stix]

Too much of that Vegemite, OzBuzz. Now tell us why it's necessary to thin out the Roo population in farms around Oz. And those poor little burros! Why not just save them all and plant thousands more acres to feed them? How about the bunny rabbits? Brumbys? Scrub Bulls? Camels?

[wd]

I think all one can do is try to deter them.

[kathyp]

i have bats!!!   

[MeadFarm]

Wow.
 I didn't mean to stir up such a NRA discussion. I did not, and am not, planning on killing any birds. I am aware that they are protected, and that they are loving creatues - as are we all??? I did however, persuade them to move on by removing the beginnings of their new nests (also not OK for protected species, but they are still alive).
They were not eating my bees this evening and that was my goal.
Thanks to all...even the killers. 

[Xperiment]

We lose a few bees to the swallows every year.   Seems like a fair deal.   I get to enjoy watching the swallows fly and they also eat mosquitos.

yrs,
rubato

[Irwin]

Just a quick thought...

If you kill the swallows for eating your bees, there won't be anything keeping down the other insect populations, like flies and mosquitoes...

I'd look for a less violent way to deal with the swallows.

I'm with you Kathy!

What? don't you mean mvanek

[Irwin]

it brought me to tears.  i think i'll go find a tree to hug.   

[SurprisingWoman]

This year the Western Tanagers are hanging around.  I just enjoy their beautiful colors and hope they will be moving on soon.

[danno]

I have 20+ colonies on the east side of my 120year old barn and trust me I have more barn swallows than most on this site.   They eat bee's but it has never had much of a impact on these hives.   They also eat there share of flies moths and dragon flies.  Also the statement that they eat 4 time there weight per day is false.  Ever see a seagal that has gorged on fish?   They cant fly!!!   

[Bee Happy]

I think bottle rockets aimed in the general direction of the nests might be harassment enough to run them out. fun anyway.

[MeadFarm]

I have 20+ colonies on the east side of my 120year old barn and trust me I have more barn swallows than most on this site.   They eat bee's but it has never had much of a impact on these hives.   They also eat there share of flies moths and dragon flies.  Also the statement that they eat 4 time there weight per day is false.  Ever see a seagal that has gorged on fish?   They cant fly!!!   

Im pretty sure I said twice their weight in a day. And that's not all at once! I'm sure flight would be an issue it that were true! 
Never-the-less this is the very response I was looking for - that it doesn't have much impact. All is well with the equilibrium of nature!
Thanks!

[kathyp]

the impact depends on the number and strength of your hive.  15 swallows and 2 hive = a problem.  15 hive and 15 swallows, maybe not so much.

[fermentedhiker]

A lot of times the impact of a generalized predator like a swallow(as opposed to a specialized one like a bee-eater) depends on the make up of the prey in the area.  By that I mean they concentrate their efforts on the most abundant food source.  So if you have a large mosquito population and 1 hive they will have less of an impact than if our bees are the most prevalent food source.  Since going up from one hive to three last year(13 this year) I now have a pair of fly catchers that doubtless live off of my girls, but even they don't seem to have an impact on hive population.  What concerns me more is how likely they, the swallows, or the dragonflies are to snatch my virgin queens on their mating flights , but I guess that is life as a beekeeper.

[luvin honey]

It's all about balance. I have no clue where that balance is, but I'd leave the birds. However, I smash potato bugs, squash and cucumber beetles without mercy and just smashed a yellow jacket at the hives the other day

[kathyp]

snatch my virgin queens on their mating flights

i'm pretty sure that's what has happened to most of mine.  i have a heck of a time letting hives requeen.  someone here told me that the queens are easy targets because they are bigger and a little slower. 

[bailey]

boy i have it diffrent here!
i keep nest sites for purple martins here in louisiana and we have at least 30pairs nesting here right now.
so far as i can tell i never see them eating bees but boy when they come in to land on the gourds in the day time there are at least 3 to 6 bees trailing them all the way in head butting and harrassing the martins
the entire time until they land. if they just cruse past the pole slowly i have seen as many as a dozen bees following one bird.
it reminds me of a flight of jet fighters swarming after a bomber. it one of the funniest things i have seen in bee keeping so far.
bailey

[bull]

hawk kits and owl decoys ? that's what peace full people i know do . (I shoot first)
its just my way.

[harvey]

We use plastic owls at work to try and deter sea gulls and other birds from congregating and spreading there nice white crap all over.   We have to wash the plastic owls every so often as when the birds roost on them they change them from brown to white.  My dad hung plastic owls on his barn to scare off woodpeckers.  They have a hole right behind one of the owls!   My hives are all down by the pond and I have a bridge I walk across to get to them.  The swallows next under the bridge.  I see them all day eating bugs off of the pond but never see them flying over the hives?

[kathyp]

tried owls, and have hawks. didn't work for anything and the hawks eat rabbits, voles, etc.  my pasture already looks like i'm trying to call down ET because of the pigeons and the stuff i had to put out to run them out of the buckwheat.  now see.....i don't always shoot first.  the pigeons would have been easy targets.