Page 1 of 1

Bees kill magpies??

Posted: January 30th, 2016, 12:03 pm
by Kens
Found a dead magpie on the ground about a foot in front of a hive. I'm pretty sure it didn't just die of old age in that location!

Its a very strong hive with lots of bees flying in these recent warm days. It makes sense that a magpie would be attracted to the dead bees in front of the hive but why/how did it die?

Is it possible that it was stung to death?

Re: Bees kill magpies??

Posted: January 31st, 2016, 12:00 pm
by Countryboy
I would say it is highly unlikely, although it is possible it got stung once and had an allergic reaction which killed it. The feathers are probably too thick for many bees to be able to reach the flesh with their stingers. Bees have trouble dealing with thick fur, which is why they go for the eyes, nose, and mouth of predators.

Look at the bird's body. Are there tons of stingers and venom sacks still stuck in the bird? If so, that may have killed it. If not, it likely died of something else.

Where are you located, that has so many bees flying?

Re: Bees kill magpies??

Posted: January 31st, 2016, 3:38 pm
by Kens
I'm in Alberta, we have 12 days or so in january above freezing and some daytime highs were close to 50F! Bees are out stretching their legs and heeding the calls of nature.

The magpie was very well feathered and appeared to be in good condition. Nochance it was stung on the body through that feather cover. Tongue was not swollen, it had been laying there awhile, crop and intestinal tract were well rotted so no contents were identifiable.

Just one of those freak coincidences I guess.