Bees in da (chicken) house

I went to clean out an old poultry "ark" we have this morning and discovered what appears to be a bees nest in the old wood shavings.

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few dozen came out when they were disturbed. Also in the photo you can see the waxy top of what appears to be honeycomb.

They seem furrier than the "honeybees" you normally see around the garden, but are the same size (definitely not bumble bees). I am aware bee populations have struggled in the past few years because of some kind of mite so we'd like to help them out.

We know nothing about keeping bees, but could be persuaded to learn.

So the questions.

What kind of bees to we have?

Can I rehome them easily and could I make some kind of simple hive for the purpose?

Is there any point in acquiring a "proper" hive? In other words could they be domesticated? If so how much hassle is beekeeping?

I know there is a local beekeeping club here and will track them down this week, in the mean time are there any uk.d-i-y apiarist types out there?

david

Reply to
Vortex5
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Bumble bees don't have to be as big as the end of yoru thumb. They look like bumble bees to me, look through:

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see if you can work out which they are. Not sure how one would go about moving a bumble bee nest, take the nest as in tact as possible put it in a large (12") flower pot with some more of the shavings invert it ona board and place close to the entrance to the arc they have been using. Leave for a few days, then move a foot or so then repeat until the pot is in a suitable quiet of of the way location.

The local bee keeping club might have some other ideas, or perhaps digging about on the above site?

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Almost certainly bumble bees of some type (there are at least ten types in the UK). The nest looks typical of the occasional bumble bee nest I've disturbed over the years. Certainly not typical of honey bees. The large furry queens hibernate over the winter, and then set up a nest in the spring, raising the first few offspring by themselves until the 'workers' can contribute. The colony will then increase in size, but never to more than a few hundred bees (hives of honey bees can contain 50,000 bees at the height of summer). At the end of the summer, new queens are hatched, they mate with males and then go into hibernation for the winter. The remaining bees die.

Although of no value for honey production, bumble bees make a significant contribution to the pollination of fruit crops etc. They seem less prone to the diseases currently affecting honey bees. Leave them alone until the Autumn if you can.

Reply to
Chris Hogg

After extensive surfing I came to the bumble bee conclusion as well....but they are curiously small!

There's no need for them to be disturbed through the summer, so we'll leave them bee (fnaar fnaar)

I'll make a couple of plywood dividers to isolate them from the rest of the chicken accommodation.

In any event have made contact with the local bee club for a second opinion. You know I'm predisposed to thinking beekeeping must be quite interesting...I wonder where this thought process might take us?

david

Reply to
Vortex5

For some reason hornets seem to like building nests in chicken huts, Usually suspended fro the roof. In your case though these look like bees and unless they are causing you a problem I suggest living with them until the winter ends the situation naturally. Leave them alone, dont flap your arms at them and they will leave you alone.

Reply to
cynic

My parents' house normally has at least one wasps nest, and sometimes two, each year. It has various wasp-sized gaps in soffits, etc. However, this year, there are bees quite like yours flying in and out of the soffit (and no wasps to be seen). The nest isn't visible, being inside the structure (and I'm not planning on getting near enough to peer into the gap they're flying in to have a closer look).

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

If you look amongst the shavings you may find they do make little pots that they fill up with nectar. I've actually dipped a small straw into one of these before and tasted it. Not quite honey but not far off. It is interesting to see the bees come in and dunk their heads in these little pots.

S
Reply to
spamlet

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