What is the name of the bird that eats bees. Bee-eating birds and everything about them

The main thing to remember about preventive measures and monitor the apiary!

Moth

First of all, once in the occupied territory, the moth lays eggs, it will take it no more than a week, masking and hiding them in the garbage at the bottom of the hive, in the brood cells. Her eggs are small, only half a millimeter, they are difficult to notice, and therefore they are very easy to hide.

On the tenth day, the larvae appear and begin a feast consisting of honeycombs. They are able to turn useful bee nectar into a dirty web with the remains of secretions and feces in a few days. This will be just the beginning of the process! After about twenty days, the enemies of the bees pupate and after ten or twenty days they become butterflies, which again lay new eggs.

How to deal with moths:

1. Immediately remove all seriously damaged cells and remelt them;
2. Those honeycombs that are less contaminated should be cleaned and treated with a disinfectant;
3. Clean the bottom of the hive and all the grooves;
4. Walk through all the cracks of the house with putty;
5. Give the bees food so that they, put it stronger, can themselves gnaw the pest out of the combs and throw them out of the hive.

So that the enemies of bees, insects, do not make their way into the combs, it is important to observe the correct storage regime. The best option is formalin vapor treatment or sulfur fumigation. For storage, put in a box, dry and additionally reinforced with tin (a fairly effective method of protecting honeycombs from mice).

Butterfly

"Dead head", a dangerous predator for bees. A striking sign of the enemy is the pattern on the wings, somewhat reminiscent of a skull and bones.

It is a nocturnal predator, butterflies are enemies of bees, insects that actively eat honey. She can eat up to ten grams of honey every night. It reproduces on nightshade plants (potatoes, henbane).

The fight against these predators is purely mechanical: it is necessary to install such a lattice so that only a bee can crawl into the hive, and not leave huge holes for butterflies.

Ants

These sweet tooths prefer to go for honey in friendly detachments, they take in quantity, and they are quite capable of taking home a kilogram of honey. As a rule, anthills are located somewhere near the apiary. Much less often, the enemies of bees, insects with an excellent organization of society, cleverly hide their larvae in the walls of the hive. The ginger forest ant is ready to feast on not only sweet nectar, but also the workers of the honey collection themselves.

Everything in nature is interconnected, so you can't just destroy an anthill: ants work as orderlies in the forest and apiaries, they are those who eat bees. By eating the corpses of bees that have died from infection, ants prevent the spread of deadly diseases.

It is only necessary to cut the nests when they are too close, about a hundred meters or less. To destroy the huge underground part of the insect town, their territory is flooded with boiling water, infusions of poisonous herbs or kerosene.

To prevent the penetration of ants, zealous beekeepers dip each leg of the bee dwelling in kerosene or solid oil. Insects will not be able to overcome this barrier and will remain on the outer perimeter of the defense. If suddenly ants are bred in the hive itself, then the bees should be urgently resettled, and the house should be repaired, washed and disinfected.

Wasps and hornets

These are unceremonious enemies of bees, insects that rob and kill. A large and strong bee colony can defend its territory.

The beekeeper can help the wards by discovering and destroying their nests. Individual dangerous insects can be trapped in jars of sweet syrup.

Less serious pests

There are even less dangerous enemies of bees in nature, and one should not forget about them in order to be as prepared as possible for all surprises.

1. Ham kozheedy. They settle in the hive and begin to eat brood with bee bread. From them, it is enough to treat the house with sulfur dioxide. Don't forget to resettle the bees first!
2. Earwigs. They feed on dead insects and bee bread, hide in a heater, so it will be enough to change the material, and it is good to anoint the legs of the dwelling with solid oil.
3. Spiders. They should be removed as soon as you see them, as the spider can eat up to seven bees a day! They try to hide next to the entrance to catch flying insects in the web.

Birds

There are also enemies of bees - birds. Yes, some feathered neighbors can ruin the hive, but we must remember that in addition to sabotage in the apiary, the bird is still excellent helpers in the garden and vegetable garden.

There are forest dwellers who feed on bees only in an emergency, out of hunger. These are species such as starlings, swallows, titmouses, blackbirds and other birds. They will go to storm the hive only if they cannot find any other food.

The enemies of bees should be distinguished separately: birds, which mainly feed on bees and can destroy up to several hundred striped workers every day:

1. Golden bee-eater.
2. Bee-eater.
3. Shrike.

They can be scared away from the apiary with harsh sounds, whistles, clapping and blank shots. As a last resort, you can find and destroy the nests.

Mice and shrews

Rodents attack the dwellings of bees most often in the autumn. These are natural enemies of bees in nature, which in winter will gladly eat honey stocks and even sleepy bees. Sly mice eat only the little body, and neatly gnaw the reservoir with the poison and do not touch it.

In addition to physical damage, the very sight of an enemy in the house disrupts wintering. The bees start to worry and freak out. Then, in the spring, winter stress will have an extremely negative effect on the productivity of the bee colony.

There are many traps and poisonous substances to fight mice. For example, the method of mixing cement into flour and broken glass into sugar has long been known.

Prevention and control measures

It is necessary to monitor and notice in time when enemies of bees enter the apiary. The experience that comes gradually over the years will tell you that the behavior and well-being of hardworking insects has changed. Experienced beekeepers already know their apiary to the smallest detail and see all the changes taking place in the hives.

As a rule, there are several methods of pest prevention and, accordingly, fight against the enemy:

1. Houses must be regularly and efficiently cleaned and decontaminated;
2. Inspect and repair the hives, there should be no cracks in them;
3. It is important to walk through the territory of the apiary, along the adjacent plots of land, forests or fields, carefully examine in order to notice new burrows, nests and anthills in time;
4. Store combs and inventory at the correct temperature and humidity;
5. Provide optimal and comfortable conditions for the bees in the nest, they must have excellent ventilation and dry air, without excess moisture;
6. Apiaries should be placed away from water bodies, bees do not like high humidity;
7. Regularly lubricate the legs of the dwelling in sulfur, kerosene or grease.

Observing the basic and simple rules, you can preserve and increase the hardworking bee family, and then collect an excellent harvest of fragrant honey, so pleasantly warming in cold winter.

In contact with

For beekeeping, as well as for other human activities, the bee-eater bird is a threat. They can destroy bees, so you need to start fighting them in time.

Tit

A small bird with a greenish-yellow color and a small beak. There are subspecies with a bluish head. Inhabits all regions, the period of activity is year-round.

They are most active in winter: they trick hibernating insects out of their cages by tricking them with their beak on the hive. Birds are also dangerous because:

1. Excite the swarm, breaking the hibernation mode. Bees that wake up at the wrong time can get sick and die.
2. They easily destroy styrofoam hives, creating a passage inward and starting to eat the family from the inside.

However, tits have useful functions: they eat dead bees, destroy sick or old bees, and hunt other pests, such as spiders. During the summer period, flying workers are usually not hunted due to the abundance of other food.

In winter, they are the most dangerous of all.

Chickens

Poultry can feast on sluggish, sleepy bees if they spend the winter in the same room. Such a neighborhood is dangerous not only for insects, but also for birds. It is not necessary to keep chickens near the dead or wintering hives - the latter will hunt drones in adulthood.

Bee-eater

The bee-eater is a bright species that feeds mainly on bees. She has a bright golden neck, bluish belly. Reaches 25 cm in length. Bee-eaters scream shrilly, which distinguishes them from other species.

They usually hunt:

• in sunny clear weather at an average altitude, intercepting honey-collecting directly on the fly;
• in cloudy and rainy days they prefer the level closer to the ground, sometimes they wait near the entrances.

One bird eats up to 1000 individuals a day, causing significant damage to the entire apiary. They eat only bees - during the favorable period it is 80-90% of their diet. The poison does not affect them, so the bee-eater is able to eat up to 20 thousand individuals during the honey collection period. Sometimes they hunt wasps, bumblebees.

The bee-eater nests in the ground, after leaving it seals the mink, but comes back after wintering. Therefore, the problem will not disappear in a year by itself, you need to print the mink.

Bee-eater

The bee-eater feeds on all hymenoptera, including bumblebees and wasps. There are European and coastal species, both have a bright color, long beak. They are similar in methods of hunting with a bee-eater - they choose the routes of the workers and eat them. Not dangerous in winter.

The main damage is inflicted from May until the time of departure for the winter. In the spring, nests begin to build, so the future place of the apiary must be carefully examined.

Shrike

The following species are dangerous for insects:

• grey;
• ginger;
• red-headed;
• black-faced.

A small bird the size of a sparrow, of various colors. The upper part of the beak is bent down at the tip, like in large carnivorous species. They nest in pairs, so a place with even several representatives in the summer can destroy a significant part of families.

Martin

They feed not only on insects. A small grayish bird, found throughout Russia. They nest more often near rivers, on forest edges and in settlements. Sometimes she catches them by mistake at the very ground.

Swifts

Cases of hunting in gardens, planting of flowering trees are noted. They do not cause significant damage to apiaries.

Other bee-eating birds:

• flycatchers;
• sparrows;
• redstarts;
• wagtails.

But these species begin to hunt for stinging insects only during periods of acute food shortages.

Effective control methods

Do not forget that other enemies can feed on bees: mice, spiders, frogs, philanthropists. The latter is called a predatory wasp. The methods of dealing with them are very similar.

Ways to fight:

1. Install wooden planks, plywood at an angle to the tap hole. The individual will be able to fly out through the gap, but the titmouse will not get inside.
2. Stretch the mesh around the entire hive or over crevices to prevent collapse.
3. Attach a fragment of a mirror over the entrance - the bird will be frightened of its reflection and fly away.
4. Offer the wintering feathered feeders with lard, grain, bee dead. Well-fed birds will not bother hunting for single individuals. It is important to replenish food supplies regularly.
5. Purchase and install an electronic repeller. The device reproduces the calls of birds of prey, which are avoided by tits.

More radical methods - shooting, poisoning, ruining nests. But it is forbidden to destroy bee-eaters: they are listed in the Red Book. Of the available prevention methods, non-contact scaring off with sounds, distraction by bright objects, electronic scarers. In extreme cases, if there are a lot of birds, you should change the place of the apiary.

Folk ways to scare away any birds - hanging red cloth, shiny objects, scarecrow. They, like short-term sound effects, are short-lived, and the pests soon return back.

The natural way to fight is with the help of their enemies, the predators. If the apiary is located near the house, then a cat or other large birds can handle small birds. They study in advance the place of the future honey collection for the presence of nests. But all these precautions are not always successful: many types of pests move after the installation of the apiary.

The bee-eater is a bird of prey, the enemy of bees! Bird eats bees

Conclusion

Some birds feed almost exclusively on insects, while others eat different foods. It is necessary to identify pests in time and protect the apiary.

• 1. Insects
• 1.1. Moth
• 1.2. Butterfly
• 1.3. Ants
• 1.4. Wasps and hornets
• 1.5. Less dangerous pests
• 2. Birds
• 3. Mice and shrews
• 4. Prevention and control measures

Insects

Let's take a closer look at each enemy from the class of insects in order to have a complete picture of their life and methods of dealing with them.

Moth

When she makes her way into the nest, the first thing she does is to lay eggs. This process takes just over a week. To prevent the bees from destroying its offspring, the moth masks inconspicuous, fleshly pale eggs, 0.5 millimeters long, at the bottom of the hive, hiding them in the cells of the larvae and in the garbage.

The moth faces hatch after 10 days and immediately begin to eat honeycombs and wax culls. These pests of bees can destroy all combs in a matter of days, leaving behind only a dirty cobweb, dotted with their own feces. However, this is not all the harm. After the larva finishes the development cycle (20-23 days), it pupates and after 10-20 days turns into a butterfly, which, if the temperature does not drop below 10 degrees, will lay new eggs in the hive.

Moth control measures:

• remove severely affected honeycombs and melt them into wax;
• clean and disinfect weakly affected cells;
• clean the grooves and the bottom of the hive;
• repair the house, tightly sealing all the cracks with putty;
• strengthen the bee family with special feeding (strong insects deal with pests on their own, gnawing them out of the honeycomb and throwing them out of the hive).

To prevent moths from settling in the combs, they should be properly stored. It is best to douse it with formalin vapor or fumigate it with sulfur and place it in a dry tin-lined box (to prevent mice from sneaking in).

Butterfly

No less dangerous enemies of bees are butterflies Acherontia atropos ("dead head"). The most characteristic external signs are a pattern on the spread of the wings, vaguely similar to a skull with bones. This butterfly is a night predator. In one night flight, one individual can eat up to 10 grams of honey. She usually arranges egg-laying on nightshade crops: potatoes, nightshade, henbane, belladonna. The hatched yellow-blue caterpillar reaches a length of 7-8 cm. The fight against a butterfly consists in installing a lattice on the entrance, into the compartments of which only a bee can crawl.

Ants

Do not mind eating honey and ants, these pests of bees usually attack in whole groups. For one good outing, a group can carry up to a kilogram of honey. Most often, anthills are not far away, although sometimes insects settle right in the walls of the hive, packing the larvae in insulation.

In addition to eating honey, some species, such as the red ant, can attack the bees themselves.

Before destroying the anthill, the beekeeper must remember that these insects bring not only harm, but also benefit. When bees die from infectious diseases, ants work as orderlies - they eat their corpses, preventing the spread of infection.

It is worth eliminating anthills only when they are closer than a hundred meters from the apiary. To do this, they are cut off and poured with boiling water with kerosene or decoctions of poisonous herbs (spurnik, aconite). You can prevent the entry of ants by dipping the legs of the hives into jars filled with kerosene, or by lubricating them with grease or autol oils.

If an anthill was found in the hive itself, then the bees will have to be temporarily relocated, and their home cleaned and repaired.

Wasps and hornets

The worst enemies of bees such as wasps and hornets bring great harm. Not only do they unceremoniously invade the nest and plunder the honey stocks, they also simultaneously destroy the brood and kill the bees themselves. If the family is strong, it can independently cope with the enemy, sticking to it with a whole crowd and killing it with numerous poisonous stinging bites. The fight on the part of the beekeeper consists in ruining the nests of the pest and trapping individual individuals in traps (bottles with syrup).

Less dangerous pests

Despite the fact that the following enemies of the bees are not so dangerous, you also need to know about them in order to effectively fight.

1. Ham kozheedy: live in the hive in the summer, eating brood and bee bread. Control measures - treatment of the house, previously freed from the bees with sulfur dioxide.
2. Earwigs: live in a hive insulation, eating dead insects and bee bread. Control measures - change of insulation, lubrication of legs with autol.
3. Spiders: live near the entrance, attacking incoming insects. A spider is exactly the one who eats bees; it can kill up to 7 individuals per day. The fight against them consists in the destruction of both the pests themselves and their cocoons with cobwebs.

Birds

Some of the bird species cause great harm to the apiary, ruining individual hives and eating their inhabitants. Nevertheless, every beekeeper must remember that no matter how great the damage from birds is, they should not be destroyed, because these insectivorous creatures are helpers in the fight against pests of the forest and vegetable garden.

Such species as: tit, wagtail, woodpecker, starling, swallow, thrush, etc. although they are a potential threat to the apiary, bees are eaten only occasionally, when there is no other food. But there are those who eat bees as the main part of their diet, and they will have to be fought with. Among them, it is worth highlighting:

1. Golden bee-eater.
2. Bee-eater.

Honey insects are the main food source of these birds (they can kill up to 800 individuals per day). If they are seen near the apiary, it is worth scaring them off with a blank shot from a weapon, or, in extreme cases, ruin their nests.

Mice and shrews

The main period of penetration of mice into bee nests is autumn. Throughout the following winter, rodents feast on honey and combs, as well as sleepy bees (the mouse prudently eats the entire body, not touching only the sting and the reservoir with poison). In addition, insects, seeing a stranger in the dwelling, begin to worry. Any of their excitement is a disruption of wintering, which will subsequently adversely affect their development and productivity.

Mice and shrews are destroyed with the help of special poisoned baits and traps.

Prevention and control measures

The main task of the beekeeper is to notice the pest in time. An experienced beekeeper always monitors the well-being, appearance and behavior of his charges, and takes action at the slightest deviation from the norm. Among the main measures of control and prevention, it is worth highlighting:

• regular cleaning and disinfection of the hive;
• careful examinations of the territory adjacent to the apiary for the presence of holes, nests, anthills, etc.;
• timely repair of the hive (there should be no cracks in it);
• correct storage of inventory and honeycomb;
• ensuring dryness and ventilation in the nest;
• the location of the apiary is not close to water;
• grease the legs of the houses in kerosene or sulfur.

The bee-eater is a bird with a bright and memorable appearance. Once seen, it is difficult to confuse her with other birds. It inhabits mainly the southern regions of the planet, so in our area there are only two of its varieties. Let's find out what the bee-eater bird looks like and where it lives. You will find a photo, description and its features below in the article.

Bee-eaters

Bee-eaters belong to the family of bee-eaters and the order of Raksha-like. They got their eloquent name due to the fact that they feed on insects, and especially bees. Their diet also includes bumblebees, wasps, various beetles and flying ants. They catch prey right in the air, starting from a cliff, tree or some kind of hill.

The second name of bee-eater birds is bee-eaters. They got it thanks to their characteristic singing, reminiscent of the sounds of "fuyuur" or "schuuuur".

There are about 23 species of bee-eaters, most of which inhabit the African continent and nearby islands. Some of them also live in Asia, Australia, New Guinea, as well as in southern Europe. They are not numerous within Russia; only golden and green bee-eats are found here.

Description of bee-eater birds

All representatives of the family, and even the detachment, are very colorful. This is due to the fact that most of them live in the tropics and subtropics. Moderate latitudes are inhabited only by some species, but they are also migratory and go to warmer regions for the winter. Despite the "seasonal" lifestyle, their color also remains variegated, which looks rather exotic outside the tropics.

The plumage of bee-eater birds is dominated by green, yellow and red colors and their shades. From the base of the beak to the eye and further stretches a black stripe, like a bandage. The beak itself is long and thin, sometimes bent downwards. Because of the small legs, the birds do not walk very confidently, but they fly quickly, making complex maneuvers in the air. Long and stiff wings contribute to this in large part.

Bee-eaters live mainly in colonies, less often in separate pairs. They do not like dense forests and choose only slightly overgrown areas. Birds settle on steep cliffs and ravines of clay and sand, in which they break holes for themselves. In terms of their structure, the dwellings of bee-eaters resemble, rather, tunnels, since their length sometimes reaches one and a half meters. At the very end, the corridor expands, forming a room where future offspring will develop.

Golden bee-eater

The golden bee-eater bird winters in India and Africa. In spring, she flies to Europe, western Asia and even North America. The bird is found in Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus. On the territory of Russia, the upper border of its range runs through the Tambov region.

Bee-eaters reach up to 28 centimeters in length. Their abdomen is colored turquoise, the throat is yellow, and the head and back are brick-colored. Above the beak there is a very light, almost white, speck, and a thin black stripe adorns the neck. Adults are much brighter and darker than juveniles, in addition, they have a longer tail, the size of which can be half the length of the body.

Green bee-eater

This species of bee-eater bird lives to the south than the golden bee-eater. In Russia, it is found in the lower reaches of the Volga, along the shores of the Caspian Sea and in the North Caucasus region. The bird is also common in Kazakhstan, Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt and the Middle East. She settles in the steppe, desert and semi-desert areas.

The bird has a bright green color on the sides, abdomen, back and upper surface of the wings. The neck is painted in a dark brick color with a small yellow speck. The forehead and the area under the very beak are blue-white.

The Nubian bee-eater differs from many of its counterparts in the predominance of a pink tint in the colors. Because of this, it is also called the purple bee-eater. The bird has a bright pink body, slightly brownish wings and a dark blue head. The long, narrow tail is colored brown and can reach 12 centimeters in size.

Feathered pests

The bee-eater is a beautiful and unusual bird that can bring many benefits by eating locusts, butterflies and beetles dangerous for vegetable gardens. But among the people she is better known as a bee killer. One bee-eater can eat up to a thousand insects per day. The bird hunts in flocks and, making "raider raids" on the apiary, can significantly cripple the home business of the beekeeper.

In the 40s of the XX century, newspapers called for mercilessly cracking down on birds, shooting them or filling their burrows. Today the bee-eater has become a valuable biological specimen. It is included in the Red Data Books of Belarus, Ukraine, many regions of Russia, therefore, drastic measures to combat it are contraindicated.

Modern beekeepers deal with feathered pests in other ways. If a colony of bee-eaters is found near the apiary, then the hives are simply moved to another area, away from problems. A flock of bee-eaters can be scared away by a bird of prey, for example, a hobby falcon, which hunts them. Of course, not everyone is ready to have such a serious pet, but to ward off the bee-eaters from the apiary, it is enough to turn on the recording of the predator's voice.

The heat-loving, parrot-like bee-eaters often attract lovers of exotic animals. But even experienced breeders do not dare to purchase a bee-eater as a poultry. It is extremely difficult to keep it both in terms of arranging the enclosure and in terms of domestication.

They require a lot of space, the cage must allow them to fly at least occasionally. During cold snaps, they must be moved to heat or the air in the aviary must be heated to a temperature above +10 degrees.

An adult bee-eater has a hard time getting used to captivity and communication with a person, experiencing significant stress. Therefore, chicks are always chosen for keeping the house. In addition, birds are very selective in their food. They feel best when they catch food themselves. To do this, beetles and other insects can be launched into the aviary (if it is made of glass). The food must be necessarily live, mortified food or special food for birds, bee-eaters do not like it. Usually they are fed with crickets, beetles, various caterpillars, eggs and bloodworms.

It is foolish to think that the usual birds do not eat honey bees. We have a big tit sins with this quality. And the real enemy flies to the bees from Europe.

If a bird that eats bees finds itself in a heated winter yard, it will destroy all individuals in one to two weeks. It's just that bees need water in winter, and they leave the hive every day. If the winter road is not heated, water will accumulate on the walls, but it is often not enough. In order to resist feathered enemies, one must always take care. The details are discussed below.

Science must be trusted with caution

It is believed that the birds shown in the photo do not stockpile at all. The species is called Parus Major or simply great tit.

Parus Major view

However, I managed to observe examples that cannot be explained by science:

1. In October, when there was no snow, dead wood was thrown from the bottom of the hives;
2. A small flock of tits began to store this food for the winter: the birds, which were badly damaged, were not interested in the birds, and they carefully hid the others between the logs in the walls.
3. Then there was a second kilogram of dead bee. It was "mastered" even faster.
4. After 5–6 days, there was not a single bee in the original hiding places!

The latter can be explained as follows: the titmouse can not only store supplies, but also know how to hide them. This is where the flock is needed. One or two birds will not stock up.

The range of birds in question covers an area from Europe to Khabarovsk. But there is an area where bees are kept, and where this area does not reach. The area is called Primorye.

What kind of bees do birds eat

Any insect of the genus Apis is not a simple prey. Bees fly too fast, unlike wasps, and they are not as big as bumblebees. And birds hunt bees that are sick or weakened. Dead water suits them too, but it should look like live bees.

High-quality podmore

Scarlet piranga is found in America, and it specializes in live bees. There are one species of birds that differ in this property in Australia, Africa, Southern Europe and Asia. Russia is not included in the list.

Who should be afraid of in the summer

In the south of Europe, where there is no snow in winter, a bee-eating bird lives. It is called the golden bee-eater. These birds have already been seen in some regions of Russia - here they are considered migratory.

Merops Apiaster view

One bee-eater can eat a thousand bees a day. In July-August, chicks hatch, and adult bee-eaters become especially ferocious. The Latin name is Merops Apiaster.

They love to hunt bees and birds from the falcon squad. If the day turned out to be unsuccessful, the wasp-eating falcon waits for its prey, taking its place on a branch near the apiary. Workers who have collected nectar or pollen fly slowly. They become victims. Other names for this bird are choglok, choglok, kobets.

The genus of shrike birds has hundreds of species. In Africa, for example, the species Dryoscopus Cubla or the black-backed shrike lives. It feeds on bees as well as honeycomb. In Russia, the species of Shrike Shrike is better known. These birds attack bees in flight, but prefer to hunt lizards or vole mice. Zhulan does not eat insects right away - he keeps them on the thorns of bushes.

Swifts, the fastest birds in the world, are also among the "summer" enemies of bees. It is best if there is not a single swift nest near the apiary.

A harmless bird - tit

In winter, tits, regardless of species, seek to find a food source. In the apiary, they behave the same way: the birds may "like" one hive, and it will be methodically attacked.

Blue tit

I usually like the hive from which the buzzing is louder. The entire attack consists of stages:

1. They knock with their beaks near the open entrances. From this, the buzzing intensifies. If a bee flies out, it will be followed and captured, but not in flight.
2. It takes a long time to drive out the bees one by one. If the bottom is made of mesh, it also begins to peck. Tits are attracted by the smell of subsoil - it always comes from under the net.
3. If the bottom is not damaged, step 1 will be repeated until there is complete silence inside.

There is usually no more than one hive in "processing".

All the bees from the hive, of course, will not be eaten by the tits. But the family will be restless. By the spring she will be the weakest.

How birds are scared away in winter

Almost all the methods people come up with to scare away will be ineffective. Some of them can have the opposite effect.

Entrance protection

Ineffective methods include:

1. Installing a mirror opposite the taphole. Birds get used to mirrors in 4-5 days.
2. Feeding. A good food is unsalted bacon. Effect: either the birds leave the hive alone, or their numbers increase.
3. Fishing net a centimeter from the walls is a zero-effect method.

You can come up with a design that casts sunbeams. But they have to move.

A good protection against tits is a "veranda" made of slats or thick wire. It is fixed opposite the tap hole. Birds will always "knock", but the bees will not hear them.

Homemade verandas

The shape of the entrance attachments, that is, "verandas", can be different. The main thing is to move 20 mm away from the tap hole in each direction.

One species of tits is listed in the Red Book. This is a baleen tit. Birds of other species belonging to the Paridae family can be destroyed. But whether it is necessary is a question. In general, it is customary to poison tits with salted bacon. Just before doing this, you should think twice: first, the bird will die from thirst, not from salt. And at first she will go blind.

A metal mesh is required to protect the “through bottom”. The diameter of the cells should be 2-3 cm. And you can do nothing with the bottom or with the "veranda": a continuous layer of protective material is used.

Protective shield

The main thing is that the material is permeable to bees. It is inconvenient to use such protection, but it is reliable.

Don't underestimate the danger

Bee-eaters of the genus Merops, that is, bee-eaters, always adhere to a "protein diet": insects make up from 20% to 96% of their diet. And they are all ants, bees and wasps with a noticeable predominance of bees. On continents other than Europe, many dangerous species are known:

• Pine beer - found in North America, there are enough bees in flight;
• Scarlet piranga (see above) - the range is both Central and South America. Piranga deals damage all year round.
• The common hummingbird is almost the smallest bird in the world. She hunts bees near the ground.

A hummingbird bird of this species has a body weight of 2-5 grams. But the hunt is for Apis Mellifera bees, not Cerana. Twenty bees can weigh more than their enemy ...

As for bullfinches, they don't eat bees at all. But Parus Major is doing well in this respect.

Great tit on the hunt

With a long spring, birds have a hard time. And the tits then hunt the bees that make their first flights:

• The bee will be caught right in the air. They will press it against the branches with their paws and try to peck it.
• A caught bee can sting. The titmouse bounces back, shakes its head, seeks to clear its beak.

In the central regions of Russia, such a hunt begins in March.

Entomologists observed a flock of tits, numbering from 2 to 5 individuals. The results are presented in the table.

Above we talked about the form of Parus Major. Smaller birds can be equally gluttonous.

In winter and spring, the enemies of bees will be tits. And the largest swifts, needle-tailed ones, replace tits for the summer. These birds are considered migratory and poorly understood. In Russia, they are observed from Vladivostok to Tomsk.

Swift needle-tailed

The titmouse population, moreover, is very well studied. Their numbers change every year:

• In Central Russia, from 1974 to 1992, the indicator increased by an order of magnitude (up to 51-98 individuals per hectare);
• Since 1992, the number has decreased by 25%.

Who else eats bees

There are signs that determine how worried families were during the winter. Winter dead water should be strictly under the frames, but it can be scattered all over the bottom. Then they conclude about frequent attacks. And poultry can be the cause. For example, hives cannot be kept in the same winter road with chickens.

There is a known experience when chickens were fed drone podmore. It mainly consisted of brood. Then the birds began to wait for the bees near the entrances - they attacked the drones.

Often called pests and flycatchers.

Pine beer and flycatcher

The reason for the error is one:

• Known as Olive-sided Flycatcher (beer);
• Flycatcher is a flycatcher. Olive flycatchers also exist, they are found in Africa and in English are called Olivaceous Flycatcher or A. But this species does not hunt bees.

A waterfowl, unlike chickens, will not feed on bees. But the pigeons could, but they are too lazy.

In addition to carbohydrates, poultry should have protein in their diet. Its source is insects. Ducks, for example, are nearly omnivorous. Shredded podmore prepared according to special recipes suits them.