We appear to have a bumble bee nest in the eaves of our house. Should we be bothered? I like bumble bees and am inclined to leave them well alone.
(Rather irritatingly, since we bought a bumble bee house a couple of years ago, which remains unused...)
Well, that's the problem. It's a bit like washing your car to make it rain, but that one seems to have taken a rest in East Anglia this year. I wouldn't worry the bees, for sure! There are professionals who know how to re-locate them, I think by moving the Queen, and they follow her. There's a TV advert with a guy with bees as a beard, but to prove how useless it is, I have no idea what the product is! Enjoy your bees, as far as I'm concerned, and don't annoy them.
That's honey bees.
(And no, I don't know who the advert is for, either!)
Ok, I thought it was bees in general. I'll bow out in favour of an expert.
In message , Davey wrote
The more numerous bees found in the UK are solitary bees. No queen, no honey, no hive, no swarming.
I have around 1000 tubes of Red Mason bee tubes in my back garden and each tube is serviced by an individual bee, populating the tubes with pollen, laying eggs and blocking the opening with mud. The bees are completely harmless.
up two boxes of tubes in January, and we have seen precisely one bee there. Maybe we need to learn about location, location, location?
No, that's Kirsty & Phil, you need BEEny.
MBQ
In message , Davey wrote
It took 5 years to get 1000+ tubes fully occupied. South facing, full sun, no dappled shade.
This is my collection this Spring (Red Mason Bees are only around in the Spring/early Summer)
Groan !
Nick
They can be moved, but its highly likely they wil die a short time afterwards. Best to leave them until the autumn and then bung up the hole. It might be worth checking what is up there before you do as bumbles have a preference for nesting in old mice nests.
Not surprising really. There are designs for bumble nests but they are underground structures, not pretty things designed by so called 'experts'
Leave them bee.
They won't do any harm. They do have stings but only very rarely use them. They'll pollinate your garden.
Almost certainly bombus hypnorum. "Traditional" British bumble bees nest below or at ground level. This species, which arrived in the UK about 10 years ago, prefer high-up locations, and bluetit boxes in particular. We're local honeybee swarm collectors but have had loads of bumblebee calls this year - mostly for hypnorum.
Like all other bumblebees they very rarely sting and will be gone by the autumn.
We've also had many calls about mason bees in cavity-wall breather tubes.
In message , Reentrant wrote
If the tubes are between 6 to 10mm diameter they will use them as nesting sites making 1 chamber every 10mm or so and blocking each end of each chamber with mud (red mason) or leaves (blue mason). Having been used once one of the bees that hatch the following year will probably use it again.
It's no longer a breather tube!
Otherwise the bees are docile and regarded as safe with pets and children. They have a very weak sting, rarely used. I have removed tubes from my mason bee "colony" with hundreds of bees flying around - no protective clothing or smoke etc. needed.
What an amazing setup. Where can I buy the tubes ?
In message , Dave-UK wrote
When I started off it was from the Oxford Bee company but they stopped trading. CWBirdfood seems to have bought their stock and maybe have continued with the tubes in a limited way. The tubes from the Oxford Bee Company were probably over designed with a removable paper inner and plastic bung on one end (the same design as the new tubes). I think they were working on a commercial use for the bees in commercial green houses etc. rather than for the "hobbyist" and needed an easy way of extracting the bees without damaging them.
The card/paper tubes are not cheap @ £10 per 100. They can be obtained from .
I have been experimenting with black "jumbo" drinking straws with a 9mm hole and the bees have used a lot of them but the card tube seem to be preferred . The plastic drinking straws are possibly too smooth.
Although I did purchase a few of the outer plastic containers from the Oxford Bee Company most of them are DIY made from underground pipe cut to length and attached to a plank of wood with 3 right angled brackets.
A 110mm pipe holds around 80 tubes.
The bees are only active for 2/3 months Spring/early Summer and don't expect instant results. My colony took around 5 years to get to serious numbers. I gave a friend 100 populated tubes (5 to 10 bees per tube) +
100 spare tubes early this year. The bees all emerged and then went and nested elsewhere. :(You can make DIY nest by simply drilling 9/10mm holes in a piece of wood but the inside of the hole needs to be relatively clean.
wrote
trading. CWBirdfood seems to have bought their
the Oxford Bee Company were probably
same design as the new tubes). I think
etc. rather than for the "hobbyist" and
and the bees have used a lot of them but
too smooth.
Bee Company most of them are DIY made
right angled brackets.
instant results. My colony took around 5
bees per tube) + 100 spare tubes early
the inside of the hole needs to be
Thanks for all that. :-)
Try a google for the green gardener.
Dave
There's no chance of moving it - it's about as inaccessible as it could possibly be.
And it wouldn't surprise me if there's a mouse nest there - I catch (kill) about ~45 mice each year, about half of them in the loft.
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