Hi Tom/All Bees will feed on such sources if they have the urge. It is possible they are collecting a sugar from the feed - I would geuss that being a chicken feed it will have some spent malt (I think it's called grist) - this is the stuff that is left over after a brewery has finished extracting nutrients from malt to make beer. It still contains a few % maltose - a sweet sugar bees will collect, which I gather is not fantastic for them though. It will also contain other things that will excite them a bit. I have heard of bees colecting animal feed as pollen - but have never seen this myself. The danger is that one sting will nock a chicken out - birds are extremely sensitive to bee venom. I know that some ostrich farmers in my area actually purposefully remove wild beehives within 500m of lucerne (alfalfa) fields here so as to avaoid losing birds to accidental stings incurred by a bird eating a bee on a flower. It may be worthwile doing something to stop the foraging - like putting the food under a roof in the shade - this reduces the chances of bees going to it as they seldom fly in shaded areas if the air temperature is below their body temperature. Keep well Garth Keep well Garth Garth Cambray Camdini Apiaries 15 Park Road Grahamstown Apis mellifera capensis 6139 South Africa Time = Honey The Universe is not here right now, if you would like to leave a message, leave your name and number after the long silence and it will get back to you as soon as possible.