Getting rid of bees

Harry Bloomfield

Harry Bloomfield

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I made a little bird house a few years ago, for bluetits, on the side of the summerhouse, but they never occupied. This year, bees have moved in and it's adjacent to where we eat on the veranda of the summer house, so not fun at all and their numbers are increasing dramatically. The first sign of their arrival, was lots of 'material', pouring out of the round hole - bluetit door. What can we do about them?
 
They will be bumble bees so even at full strength will only have a few hundred of them.
We have a nest in the ground of a doorway into a wood shed and we just step over them....and I am allergic to be venom .
 
lostinthelight said:
They will be bumble bees so even at full strength will only have a few hundred of them.
We have a nest in the ground of a doorway into a wood shed and we just step over them....and I am allergic to be venom .
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They don't bother me that much, I've no actual fear of them, they are just an annoyance buzzing round, but SWMBO cannot cope with them so well.. So I need to do something, or no more BBQ's.
 
Ask either a beekeeper, (look in local papers/parish magazines etc), or a pest controller.
Contrary to popular belief, pest controllers are required to remove the nest and occupants to a safe area, not destroy them.
All bees are protected by law.
 
I don't know if bumble bees are the same as honey bees but the latter will return to the same spot their hive was at unless it was moved around a mile away. Before I became sensitised to venom I kept bees for 40 years and to moves a hive it had to be done in 3ft steps at a time or moved a mile for a week and then brought back
 
Their behaviour (being annoying) sounds more like wasps than bumbles. I suspect most beekeepers won't be interested in or have expereience of dealing with bumbles. If it was me I would live with them as their season is relatively short, but there is some sound advice if you do need to move them here

www.bumblebeeconservation.org

Bumblebee nests - Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Bumblebee nests We receive lots of enquiries about nests. We hope you find the guidance on this page and our FAQs page useful. What bumblebees look for in a nest …
www.bumblebeeconservation.org www.bumblebeeconservation.org

It seems to have been a good year for bumbles and honeybees, probably because of the wet spring and now a long warm dry spell
 
Harry Bloomfield said:
They don't bother me that much, I've no actual fear of them, they are just an annoyance buzzing round, but SWMBO cannot cope with them so well.. So I need to do something, or no more BBQ's.
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It's a pity you quit smoking, old boy, that'd soon sort 'em out.:mrgreen:
What's 'SWMBO'?
 
Rumpole of the Bailey was quoting H Rider Haggard, a Victorian Author, I think I read "She" when I was about 12-14.
 
Harry Bloomfield said:
They don't bother me that much, I've no actual fear of them, they are just an annoyance buzzing round, but SWMBO cannot cope with them so well.. So I need to do something, or no more BBQ's.
Click to expand...
They are not attracted to sweet things like wasps and tend to fly in direct lines so if you can put some sort of a screen between people and their entrance they may be diverted away and not bother those of a more nervous disposition.
 
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