Bee Keeping

[clogsParticipant @clogs]

Hi all,

here in SW France the Asian Hornet is a notifiable species……the local council is supposed to destroy them for free……but here, unless they can be reached from a small step ladder, you're on ur own…….

I didn't see mine until the Autum, then there was this huge hanging globular structure right at the top of a tree….a good meter long and around 600mm dia..

We'd seen loads of Hornets but never a nest, anyway just for a laugh I put both barrels from a 12gauge through the nest and nothing, just upset em a bit………

plan 2, joined 2 peices of 22mm x 6m copper pipe together with a ball valve on the end……1/2ish filled the tube with petrol….the valve end connected to an air compressor, shoved the tube just inside the paper nest and let em have it….

instant death to critters….. never a problem again……incidentaly the nest was just falling to bits by the spring……

I have seen them use a mouse hole in the banking of a small river, that time we drowned them with a water pump and hose with a length of copper pipe…..just let it run for 1/2hour……

For the squeamish, I had my bee suit on, but that'll prob be of no use but her indoors was a little happier…..

Agter all this with the Hornets and the Wood peckers I gave my hives away, not enough natural flowers and around here it's all Rape seed……yuck……..just buy my Tyme Honey (from Greece) in the supermarket…..

Loads'a fun, ohhhh life in the countryside……..hahaha…….Clogs

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

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

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

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

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

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

[Bob Brown 1Participant @bobbrown1]

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.

[John BaguleyParticipant @johnbaguley78655]

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

[HacksawParticipant @hacksaw]

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..

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

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

————–

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

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

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

[paul raynerParticipant @paulrayner36054]

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

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

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

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

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

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

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

[clogsParticipant @clogs]

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

[paul raynerParticipant @paulrayner36054]

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

[kevin beeversParticipant @kevinbeevers61752]

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

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

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

[kevin beeversParticipant @kevinbeevers61752]

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

kevin

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

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

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

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!

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

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!

[Trevor Crossman 1Participant @trevorcrossman1]

We have about a half acre garden surrounding our rural home and apart from the vegetable patch it is planted with stuff that attracts pollinators to counter the effects of agri-business farming of the surrounding fields. Summertime was usually full of bumbles and butterflies, but over the past few years we have noticed a steady decline in the insect population, and this year there are very few wild bees and hardly any butterflies or moths, not doubt due in part to the erratic Spring weather, but mostly due to sprayed pesticides.

So I would urge all those who are bothered about a few bees 'lodging' in their house to leave them alone unless you are highly allergic to bee venom and likely to suffer anaphylactic shock. Wasps are pollinators too and do no harm if you leave them alone, the largest wasp nest ever in our roof was about 22" diameter so it must have had quite a few occupants, and yet in 22 years of living here, only one of us has been stung once.

No pollinators–no crops–no food—not much of a life!

Trevor

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

She appears to be a solitary lodger at the moment, I was alerted to her presence by a rustling noise in my ceiling which I first thought was birds on the roof. I would prefer that her offspring find somewhere else to live but at the moment it is not a problem. I will seal the uninhabited sections and hope they vacate their current lodging. Will they leave home in the spring? Or do they just make their own holes next to mums?

Mike

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

This year is a disaster year for beekeepers, personally I have lost 3 hives over the winter and sub zero conditions. Then, the wet weather and windy days the bees did not develop at all and only in the last few weeks have started to develop brood in the hive. There is a period of the year when there is no blossom and it is called the, 'June drop' when there is no nectar flow. Further to this I have had conversations with beekeepers talking about getting nectar from trees that flower. Only 20% of trees give nectar and the rest are wind pollinated.

Meanwhile the beekeepers that come into the bee shop tell us of swarms and dying hives with no Queen and in general, losses. The delay in development also means late swarms and then Drones are evicted from the hives so a Virgin Queen cannot mate the number of times needed (12 to 15)

I too, have noticed a very big drop in the number of insects about, butterflies and Moths Hoverflies also. I live adjacent to arable fields and they seem to spray every week for something. What I have noticed is lots of Flies?

Clive

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