blue jay eating bees

[yolanda huang]

Hi Everyone,

I didn't see this, but my neighbor said he was watching the hives and noticed a blue jay hunting and eating bees.  Is this an issue?  If so, what should I do?

Yolanda

[Paula Breen]

Scrub jays gotta eat too. Not much you can do about it! 

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[Jim Veitch]

Yolanda,

You might have the same jays eating your bees that eat my bees since we are so close.  They snatch them in mid-flight, it's cool to see them doing it.  If they have an effect on the bees, it's probably not that big, I've had jays come by and snack on bees in my backyard for many years.  I sometimes wonder if one of my virgin queens that disappeared got taken on a mating flight, but the odds have to be very low.

Jim

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[real...@aol.com]

I have a family of bleu jay in the back yard for years , yes they eat bee , mostly the bee with DFM and the like , not an issue , they are janitors , heee yes they might get a healthy bee from time to time 

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[Robin Chatham]

I saw a bunch of birds eating bees during the flurry of a swarm. 

Ya, they gotta eat too.

Also birds n dragonflies eat bees that are flying and the queen beeing eaten is one reason a swarm becomes queenless and why virgin queens don't always come back from a mating flight. 

I let nature do it's thing.

Its OK to love birds too lol

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[Danny Williamson]

I never had much of a problem with blue jays eating my bees much. It was the swallows I had a problem with when I had my bees at Ardenwood farm in Fremont. Even though they mostly go after the drone bees because they're easy pickins they will most definitely go after the queen bees when they are on a mating flight. So what I did to help was get a predator bird flying kite with a pole. You will have to move the kite in different spots because the swallows and blue jays are smart and will get less threatened if left in one spot. 

On Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 8:05 AM yolanda huang <yogre...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Bees & Beeks]

Yes I have a family of bluejays who visits my yard every morning around 9am and sometimes again around 5pm (those are hours with most bees exiting & entering hives).   This year there’s only 3, some years there are 5 or 6.  

I don’t do anything special as they mostly pick dead or dying bees.   Like the territorial geckos who each have their own hive and sometimes hiss at me, Bluejays don’t eat enough bees to affect my hives.  As long as my hives are low in mite count, they are strong.  Also I enjoy watching the smaller Jays learn from their parents, grow big and eventually leave the flock. Almost 1/3 of bees don’t return from first flight out; they get lost or die and it’s already taken into account by Mother Nature.  

Bee Kind,

Mimi 

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 17, 2026, at 8:05 AM, yolanda huang <yogre...@gmail.com> wrote:



Hi Everyone,

I didn't see this, but my neighbor said he was watching the hives and noticed a blue jay hunting and eating bees.  Is this an issue?  If so, what should I do?

Yolanda

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[MLuskin]

Danny, do you think the kite might be helpful with herons coming to eat the goldfish in our backyard pond? 

Merry

On Apr 17, 2026, at 11:26 AM, Danny Williamson <bmovi...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Danny Williamson]

Yes get a hawk kite and it should work. But you'll need to move it around and not keep it in one spot because the herons will get use to it. 

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[Susan Donahue]

I have swallow too every year, they park over the apiary here in Rockridge from 2:30- 5 pm for a whole month in May 

Sue

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[Ian Umeda]

I find they mostly go after the drones. Bigger meal. Don’t sting. 

[Ian Umeda]

I wonder if this behavior contributes to more irritable bees?