Bee Keeping

The Bumble bees have been active here in the Medway area for about 2 weeks or so, not as many as usual though.

The Bee hives are heaving with bees but I dont think they will swarm yet as it has been very cold. But they always surprise me.

Lots of clients asking for bees but asking for over wintered bees, not this years swarms.

Clive

Bumble bees active in Jockland too but they're tuff up here, not many but some.

Saw a dead wasp on the pavement a few days ago

Lots of mortar bees - perhaps 100 or so on the sunny side of the barn here in SW France. Mornings have been cold with a light overnight frost. My 3 hives overwintered OK, had to feed 2 Pks of Apivar sugars to each hive plus a super of honey during the winter. Problem now is to get them out of the super and back into the brood box, and the queen excluder back in place. Haven't seen the first hornet yet, but traps are in place.
BobH

The bees here seem to love this shrub, you can hear and see them buzzing around not sure if they are collecting pollen or nectar.

The Pyracantha bush outside my patio doors is just coming into flower and there are dozens of bumble bees on it. Must be a nest nearby somewhere. A few years ago, it was over nextdoors kitchen window which they weren't too chuffed about and sprayed it with chemicals. I would have just left them to it.

John

There's a bumble bees nest in my forge roof , they can stay . I've been watching them .They don't seem to do much nectar collecting ? Just buzz around their exit hole outside ?

Last year it was hornets , they got Easy Start & WD40 and a blowlamp left burning ,balanced on the tie beam , while i stood some distance away outside Protected or not, they can go build their nest in the woods , not in my roof..

The bees up here in Jockville have only really shown up in the last few days, and April / May were bone dry with lots of sun

Nice to see them back at work

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Last year it was hornets , they got Easy Start & WD40 and a blowlamp left burning ,balanced on the tie beam , while i stood some distance away outside. Protected or not, they can go build their nest in the woods , not in my roof..

hehe

All Bumble bees are protected now and just let them get on with there lives as they will make Queens and die out come end of August, Sept ember, they are pretty harmless and will not attack but make a stance if threatened.

The smaller Bumbles flying around the entrance are young orienting themselves with their nest.

Clive

Clive

I have bees in the cavity wall of my house, you state that they all die in aug / sept . Will I be able to plug the hole up then to stop them going in next year?

If not how can I get rid of them without harming them as the hive is not accessible without removing bricks?

thanks for reply in advance

regards

Paul

The bees in your cavity (so to speak) shouldn't die off if they have their queen and make some honey during the season, so you may have them longer than you think. Its difficult to get them out because the queen can't fly at the drop of a hat as she is too big - Correct me if I am wrong.
Some say that you can smoke them out by making it too uncomfortable for them, but it didn't work for me. I think the smoke would have to be there for a few days, and you may not like that!!
Removing bricks could be the answer, but they often build the nest some distance from the entrance hole.
Why do you want to remove them. Have you been stung several times from them ?? Could you provide a home for a threatened species? I don't think they will harm your home.
BobH

Firstly, If they are Bumble bees then they will disappear in the Autumn. If they are honey bees (Apis mellifera) then they will hibernate. I am reluctant to suggest pesticide as other bees will come and collect the honey and take it away to a hive somewhere and the bee keeper will wonder why the bees die. The way to kill off the bees is use a sulphur burner and puff the smoke into the cavity, be careful as it is dangerous. I use a a long pipe with a mesh in the middle to stop sparks travelling along it. Only after a time and seeing no bees plug the hole.

This advice offered with some concern, maybe best to contact a local beekeeper? The Queen will not leave the nest until such time as there is a swarm, she is not to big to leave, Drones are bigger in girth! I personally am reluctant to involve myself with bee removal in these situations as they generally die out due to non treatment for Varroa which kills them off eventually. But they are a resoirvier of disease!

Clive

Edited By Clive Hartland on 31/05/2017 22:52:07

Bees won't bother your family, they are very benign, you can brush them off quite easily and they don't get angry

Unless you're selling up and they are taking over your comfort zone I would leave them to do their thing

Plug the hole in winter, to minimise any future issues

Edited By Ady1 on 01/06/2017 01:08:57

HI speedy builder,

area 17.......Frelon's are very busy here, even around the outside light at night now........

have you seen them take bee's in full flight on approach to the hive.......amazing but sad.......

got rid of all my bee's, originally 25 hives.....here the honey was crap, Mono-culture and vines.......actually got better honey in our town in Blighty........

ce la vie....clogs

Hi Everyone

thanks for all your replys. I think I will have to contact a local bee keeper as I do not want to kill them. Just as an additional note last year I had bees going through a hole in my soffit when they stopped going in ( late autumn time) I sealed the hole up, the new nest/hive is about 5 foot away round the corner of the house but these bees seem smaller than the ones we had last year. Another puzzle is that we have cavity wall insulation!!!

thanks again for replys

regards

Paul

hi,i am not a be keeper but i have noticed a lot of bees that are hanging about by a small hole on the gable end of my house they are quite small bees dont think they are bumble bees i dont mind them but do they do any damage and will they attack if i go up into the loft area as i think that is where they are as the hole was left when they took out old water tank and pulled out the overflow pipe.

cheers kevin

You need to identify the bees first, if you go in the loft use a torch as a light shield, keep the loft light off.

Regarding wall cavity insulation, I have found wasps using the foam filling to chew up and make their nest from. I also had a long drawn out correspondence with the makers and they told me they also included pesticide in the mixture, they quietened down when I supplied a sample of wasp comb with dead wasps in it.

Clive

thanks clive i know they arnt bumble bees they are small bees i will try and see if i can get them identified

kevin

I appear to be providing a home for a carpenter bee in the polystyrene insulation of my workshop roof. Should I evict him and seal his route in or let him live and sort it out at the end of the summer?

Mike

It is a she and no, let them get on with life. The hole will be filled with next year’s bees in the making. We need all the pollinators we can get!

It is a she and no, let them get on with life. The hole will be filled with next year’s bees in the making. We need all the pollinators we can get!