Birds and the Bee's

[Newbee]

No, no, it's not THAT kind of question ( )....
I'm considering installing a pole and nesting site to house swallows, bluebirds, or martins (and plan on a Bat-house somewhere's too), and got to thinking about where I would put those in relation to the bee's. My initial choice, would probably place everything within 100 yds. of each other.
Most of those insect-eating birds and things are likely to make meal's out of my girls, aren't they? Or is that more of a Darwinistic thing (they only eat the slow and weak ones?)
Thanks for the input!

- Kevin

[cpekarek]

We have over 60 nesting boxes for cavity nesting birds. Our Tree Swallows will eat an occasional moth but feed mainly on mosquitoes and gnats. They feed mainly over open water. Our Bluebirds feed almost exclusively on insects they find on the ground. I have never seen a Bluebird eat a flying insect. Purple Martins eat anything that flies including beetles, moths, bees, wasps and dragon flies. Purple Martins will fly up to a few miles to feed when they discover a good food source. Bats only feed from dusk to dawn so they should not impact your bees.

I would only be concerned about the Purple Martins.

[Perry]

No, no, it's not THAT kind of question ( )....
- Kevin

Thank goodness, thought I was gonna have to give the mod button a work-out!

[LazyBkpr]

There is always a chance that birds will snag your bees. I do not think it would concern me greatly, with the exception of rearing queens. If I was trying to make queens I would absolutely NOT encourage birds that eat insects to live nearby.
   They will eat bees, but the amount of bees eaten will not be significant enough to cause drastic problems.