Well hopefully the subject line raised a few eyebrows. I keep a dozen hives at a small farm in rural central Virginia that raises chickens. Their farm is small enough to be exempt from health inspections so their slaughtering operation is in an open air shed. It is quite a neat setup and they keep it quite clean. I just learned that every year starting in the late summer through fall my bees line up to drink the fresh chicken blood during the thursday slaughter. The farmers think it is really cool and fun to watch but it got me to wondering why? I assume the bees must be getting salt and other minerals from the blood. I doubt there are enough sugars in the blood to be of any use. The market for "chicken blood honey" must be quite limited anyway.
Has anyone else seen this phenomenon? I am also curious why the bees are only attracted in the late summer and fall but not the spring.
Thanks,
Ryan Williamson
www.themouseworks.com
www.sourwoodfarm.com
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
