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Bees! help!!

MAWMAW Posts: 38,777
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in Advice #1
I've got hundreds of them sniffing around my eaves, can't actually find anywhere they are going into my loft yet.Do theynest in houses? Any suggestions as to what to do? If they were wasps, I'd put some long clothes on and foam the nest. I'm reluctant to do that with bees, but we can't open the front, south facing windows and it's hotter than a nuclear furnace here:eek:

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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 18,013
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    #2
    Move them on before they move in for summer. There must be a queen there. Bees or no bees. It would need to be them or me.

    I think this is particularly important if you are prone to wearing lurid lycra :D
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    MAWMAW Posts: 38,777
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    #3
    ardwark wrote: »
    Move them on before they move in for summer. There must be a queen there. Bees or no bees. It would need to be them or me.

    I think this is particularly important if you are prone to wearing lurid lycra :D

    Black lycra only, you'll be sorry to learn. Though you will be recieving an invite to my Olympic cycling party if you like men in lycra:D I'm just a bit reluctant to go nuclear on them, if there's a less terminal option, though obviously I'll have to if nothing else can be done.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 18,013
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    #4
    My guess is that a queen has already moved in and all her concubines are in and out trying to please her. Get shot. Today.
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    maxinerulesmaxinerules Posts: 698
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    #5
    google your town name and beekepers, that should give you your local association. They usually have a member who collects unwanted swarms/nests. If they are reddish bees though, they could be maison bees which live in old masonry and are harmless. I've got loads of them up the side of my house.
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    MAWMAW Posts: 38,777
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    #6
    maxinerules wrote: »
    google your town name and beekepers, that should give you your local association. They usually have a member who collects unwanted swarms/nests. If they are reddish bees though, they could be maison bees which live in old masonry and are harmless. I've got loads of them up the side of my house.

    *Slaps hand to forehead* There's a guy about 400m away with some hives in his garden... back on the bike I think:D
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 18,013
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    #7
    You should charge him rent. A tenner per bee per day sounds fair to me.
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    belfastkidbelfastkid Posts: 2,911
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    #8
    Dont get them exterminated or anything. We need all the bees we can get and they are hamrless creatures just trying to do a job each day.
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    DeniseDenise Posts: 12,961
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    #9
    MAW wrote: »
    *Slaps hand to forehead* There's a guy about 400m away with some hives in his garden... back on the bike I think:D

    If they are honey bees, then it is probably one of his hives that has swarmed so should come and take them back.
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    MAWMAW Posts: 38,777
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    #10
    belfastkid wrote: »
    Dont get them exterminated or anything. We need all the bees we can get and they are hamrless creatures just trying to do a job each day.
    Those are my thoughts. I also have an orchard, so it's very much in my interests to have some around the place.
    Denise wrote: »
    If they are honey bees, then it is probably one of his hives that has swarmed so should come and take them back.

    It's not a swarm. I know what a swarm looks like. I've seen a swarm in Rwanda once, and that was something else:eek: There are about 100-200 of them, all along the front of my house, coming and going. They have almost certainly moved in, I just can't find where. It is possible they are these Maison bee things, they look a bit reddish, and have a rounded bum, no visible sting. I'm only willing to carry science so far though, not going to aggravate one to find out. I have tried swat one to have a better look, but it's not easy on a ladder, with potentially dangerous animals around. I am allergic.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 18,013
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    #11
    Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate.
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    darkmothdarkmoth Posts: 12,265
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    #12
    MAW wrote: »
    Those are my thoughts. I also have an orchard, so it's very much in my interests to have some around the place.



    It's not a swarm. I know what a swarm looks like. I've seen a swarm in Rwanda once, and that was something else:eek: There are about 100-200 of them, all along the front of my house, coming and going. They have almost certainly moved in, I just can't find where. It is possible they are these Maison bee things, they look a bit reddish, and have a rounded bum, no visible sting. I'm only willing to carry science so far though, not going to aggravate one to find out. I have tried swat one to have a better look, but it's not easy on a ladder, with potentially dangerous animals around. I am allergic.

    I shouldn't laugh...but the mental image of you up a ladder, wearing lycra, checking out bee's bums .....:D
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    MAWMAW Posts: 38,777
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    #13
    darkmoth wrote: »
    I shouldn't laugh...but the mental image of you up a ladder, wearing lycra, checking out bee's bums .....:D

    I took the lycra off about 8am:D I most certainly wear it only on my bike, you'll be glad to know. I do have some sense of decency, and sympathy for the rest of the human race.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 18,013
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    #14
    So no lycra, up a ladder checking bees bums? :confused:

    I'm missing the decency part. :o

    I wonder if a neighbour will start a thread :eek:
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    Arthur.CrumbleArthur.Crumble Posts: 932
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    #15
    MAW wrote: »
    I've got hundreds of them sniffing around my eaves, can't actually find anywhere they are going into my loft yet.Do theynest in houses? Any suggestions as to what to do? If they were wasps, I'd put some long clothes on and foam the nest. I'm reluctant to do that with bees, but we can't open the front, south facing windows and it's hotter than a nuclear furnace here:eek:

    Just put a bit of net curtain over the window so you can open and close it without any bees getting in. Just leave them alone they (and wasps) are crucial for flowers and keeping pests out of your garden.
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    mrsdaisychainmrsdaisychain Posts: 3,438
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    #16
    Gosh, we have had loads of them this last week or so. Some of them are so big, like a small bird some of them honestly.
    I checked on my dog barking in the garden yesterday, it was a woof woof rather than a full bark. When I went out, there was a bee buzzing around his head. As he is still only a puppy, he won't have known what it was. He did what I do, got out of its way pronto!
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    camercamer Posts: 5,237
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    #17
    mrsdaisychain wrote: »
    Gosh, we have had loads of them this last week or so. Some of them are so big, like a small bird some of them honestly.
    I checked on my dog barking in the garden yesterday, it was a woof woof rather than a full bark. When I went out, there was a bee buzzing around his head. As he is still only a puppy, he won't have known what it was. He did what I do, got out of its way pronto!

    The size of small birds you say, get an anti aircraft gun quickly:D
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    MAWMAW Posts: 38,777
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    #18
    camer wrote: »
    The size of small birds you say, get an anti aircraft gun quickly:D

    Mine are only tiny ones.

    I have succeeded in swatting one for scientific purposes. I have ID'd it as a Maison bee, for certain. I am leaving them to their own devices. It's nearly time for fruit tree blossom.
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    BrooklynBoyBrooklynBoy Posts: 10,595
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    #19
    MAW wrote: »
    Mine are only tiny ones.

    I have succeeded in swatting one for scientific purposes. I have ID'd it as a Maison bee, for certain. I am leaving them to their own devices. It's nearly time for fruit tree blossom.

    What does Louis make of them?
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    PootmatootPootmatoot Posts: 15,640
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    #20
    They're probably the only 40 bees left in the country! You can't kill them, get them collected!
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    FearFactorFearFactor Posts: 2,547
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    #21
    MAW wrote: »
    Mine are only tiny ones.

    I have succeeded in swatting one for scientific purposes. I have ID'd it as a Maison bee, for certain. I am leaving them to their own devices. It's nearly time for fruit tree blossom.

    Is it french?! :D

    (They are mason bees ;))
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    MAWMAW Posts: 38,777
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    #22
    FearFactor wrote: »
    Is it french?! :D

    (They are mason bees ;))

    I don't understand a word they say, they may well be French:o
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 10,625
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    #23
    MAW wrote: »
    Black lycra only, you'll be sorry to learn. Though you will be recieving an invite to my Olympic cycling party if you like men in lycra:D I'm just a bit reluctant to go nuclear on them, if there's a less terminal option, though obviously I'll have to if nothing else can be done.
    Somebody should have told these guys :D

    http://www.funnycoolstuff.com/images/red-bicycle-shorts.jpg
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