Bee Excrement & Neighbours

[Joseph]

Hello there, I have a rather serious problem on my hands. I am not sure what I can do about it. The neighbours say that there are those dreaded yellow droppings on their cars, clothes and even books when reading outside. They say that the problem is not something they are prepared to live with. They actually sent the droppings to a lab to find out how they had suddenly appeared.

There is one very active neighbour who sent the samples off a lab, who complained to the council and organised a petition to the council thereby spreading word of the 'problem'.

My hives do not show any signs of nosema, and are thriving.

These are my apiary sites:

Apiary 1 is 180 ft from the closest houses and has been there since 2007 and the neighbours say that's when they noticed the problem of bee excrement. The were not aware of the location of my hives until recently, but complained to the council back in 2007 saying that there must be some hives somewhere.

Apiary 2 I established last year is around 230 ft from the closest houses. I am not sure if the problem has been exacerbated by the additional 8 hives.

Essentially I need to do 2 things, I need to move Apiary 1 to Apiary 2 site. And I need to spread Apiary 2 out in a circular shape, so that the bees do not all fly towards the housing estate.

Currently, all my hives are facing the estate due to the way the trees are spread out and given that I wanted the best exposure to sunlight. But I would now like to face each one at another angle so that no single street faces the brunt of the problem (assuming the bees will follow my advised line of flight, as the crow flies from the hive entrance.)


The big question is how do I do that with the season in progress. I really would not like to transport the bees away and then bring them back.

Given that Apiary 1 is 180 or so ft from the housing estate, and Apiary 2 is 230 ft, I guess it would make sense to try that first and see if that helps. I could reshape Apiary 2 gradually.

So my immediate question is how to move the hives the 130 ft from Api 1 to Api 2.


Ideas anyone?

 

[VEG]

Have you been approached by the council to do anything?
The chap i bought my 2 nucs off has the same problem. Residents got a petition council came out and told them nowt they can do. Only problem is if they decide to do something about it themselves.
I dont think it will matter in your case which way you face the hives as there is quite a large area of land around them. They will still probably fly the way they are going now to the forage.

 

[jon]

I would be surprised if your bees are at fault. Don't they usually defecate quite close to the hive - ie just fly out and fly back. This is what I have seen anyway.
Could someone else closer by have bees?

 

[grizzly]

What sort of scale are we talking about ? surely its just the odd droplet ? have you seen any proof ?

Perhaps your bees are a very good judge of character.

Someone near me keeps pigeons, i dont comlain every time i see a bird crap on my car !!!!

Again as Veg said, if there is nothing official, i would not be too concerned, and dont bother to move the hives, the bees will go where they want to regardless.

Have you neighbours been educated on the plight of the Honeybee ?

 

[hedgerow pete]

the first point is do nothing until forced unless you want to be helpfull towards the council which will do you no favours secondly is it bee poo or something else what exactly is the lab result proof of. and why not put all the bee hives inside the miserable buggers letter box

 

[Roy S]

Some people obviously dont have anything else to worry about in their lives do they?

I'd do nothing for the time being unless the council demands you do something, and even then dont they have to prove it is your bees?, sounds a fair distance from your hives to be talking of massive amounts of bee droppings.

As for getting it analysed by a lab...JEEZ! some people really are oxygen thieves

 

[Joseph]

Have you been approached by the council to do anything?
The chap i bought my 2 nucs off has the same problem. Residents got a petition council came out and told them nowt they can do. Only problem is if they decide to do something about it themselves.
I dont think it will matter in your case which way you face the hives as there is quite a large area of land around them. They will still probably fly the way they are going now to the forage.

The council are looking for me, but have yet to make contact. The neighbours have indirectly threatened to poison the bees.

What sort of scale are we talking about ? surely its just the odd droplet ? have you seen any proof ?

Perhaps your bees are a very good judge of character.

Someone near me keeps pigeons, i dont comlain every time i see a bird crap on my car !!!!

Again as Veg said, if there is nothing official, i would not be too concerned, and dont bother to move the hives, the bees will go where they want to regardless.

Have you neighbours been educated on the plight of the Honeybee ?

Most of the neighbours are sympathetic and don't necessarily want the hives to go, , but say it is a very big problem for them and that the droppings are excessive. I am waiting for a picturre by email, but a local beek has suggested that the bees may be eating something that is causing this, although I haven't seen any yellow streaks within the hives or at the entrance.

I would be surprised if your bees are at fault. Don't they usually defecate quite close to the hive - ie just fly out and fly back. This is what I have seen anyway.
Could someone else closer by have bees?

The problem occurred right after I got my bees down there. They did not know the precise date of my bringing the hives, but the dates they mention coincide to the tee.

the first point is do nothing until forced unless you want to be helpfull towards the council which will do you no favours secondly is it bee poo or something else what exactly is the lab result proof of. and why not put all the bee hives inside the miserable buggers letter box

The lab told them it was bee excrement thats how they sussed it out. Not sure I want to be the villan of the community. I do want to try.

Some people obviously dont have anything else to worry about in their lives do they?

I'd do nothing for the time being unless the council demands you do something, and even then dont they have to prove it is your bees?, sounds a fair distance from your hives to be talking of massive amounts of bee droppings.

As for getting it analysed by a lab...JEEZ! some people really are oxygen thieves

It is a fair distance, which is what makes unlikely to be nosema otherwise they would drag and drop right outside, I am told. Like I said, I do want to try.

 

[grizzly]

I feel for you Joseph, what an rotten situation to be in, and as for indirect threats to poison bees .............. that makes my blood boil

Whereabouts are you ?

 

[Hombre]

Rather bee poo than that dreaded hydraulic fluid spray from aeroplanes?
I'm sure that Mr X with the lab report is a right piece of work. Doubtless he would be rid of anything that smells, all the birds in the area that might dump on his car etc etc. I can only hope he has a particularly personal recession experience.

Good luck.

 

[Heather]

Are there other bee keepers in the area- bet there are - some keep very quiet. Tell the neighbours it is from them... or prove otherwise. And threats to your bees- that is where they have lost the case. If they persist notify the police that you have been threatened...

To be practical, yes, arrange the hives to fly away from the houses, and they will have 'unloaded ' well before their bloody windows!!

 

[Joseph]

Rather bee poo than that dreaded hydraulic fluid spray from aeroplanes?
I'm sure that Mr X with the lab report is a right piece of work. Doubtless he would be rid of anything that smells, all the birds in the area that might dump on his car etc etc. I can only hope he has a particularly personal recession experience.

Good luck.

lol, Well, my apiary is in Thanet, it only a couple of miles from Manston / Kent Int. Airport.

 

[Jenxy]

Poison your bees???? I have never heard anything so small minded... I bet some of these people have dogs that poo, or cats that poo where they are not supposed to. I wonder how they would react if someone threatened to poison their pets. Some people make me sick... I feel for the predicament you are in, but I'm sure there is nothing they can legally do to you.... If you are in any doubt, seek advice from a lawer, or contact someone like a bee inspector or Defra??? I lived right next to the Ford transit factory for ages, the paint tower used to spew out the most noxious smells... would make poeple throw up, others would find tiny droplets of paint on washing and cars etc.... nothing was ever done. I think about ten years after people started to complain, they built a new paint shop with a taller tower.... so you have a wee while yet... don't rush into anything.

 

[Haughton Honey]

Welcome to England Joseph........home of the myopic cave-dweller otherwise known as the 'busybody-I-gave-up-work-10-years-ago-and-now-I'm-bored-do-gooder'.

 

[hedgerow pete]

There is one solution to your problems remove the whole lot and site them somewhere else for a month until what is flowering has finished and also whilst these people are ranting on point out that your bees have moved and any more droppings by default are someone else there fore i will return the inocent bees to there rightfull home. and somethime killer african bees in england do have a warm and fussy fealing to its idea. what we need is hunter killer african honey bees and after they have given this guy the stinging of a life time we can blame the labour government for letting in immagrants !! resault

 

[Floyd]

This is a terrible predicament to be in but yet another case of the NIMBY (Not in my Backyard) culture that is prevalant in todays society.

I may be blessed with no neighbours up here in the wilds of Scotland however, in Fife on the east coast of Scotland there are two relativly large apiaries that are located near housing estate.

Are there any Bee Farms near your area that you could use as a case point that this type of nuisence is indeed rare if not periodic during the season.

All the best

 

[subbuteo]

Do's and don'ts from New Zealand:

http://www.nba.org.nz/node/52

Rule 3. Try to remove frames full of pollen early in spring and replace them with empty frames. This is to stop bee dropping upsetting"the neighbours.

Bees seem to 'clean out' old frames by 'eating' the material then flying to the neighbours before crapping. This is the most common 'bee complaint' made to city councils.

 

[Geoff]

You can always threaten to replace the bees with homing pigeons! People near me keep pigeons and flocks of them fly round and round and they occasionally crap, as do all the wild birds and the pigeons eat my cabbages. But its not like we are getting covered in it. Its not like these peoples' houses are getting covered in bee poo, they are tiny insects for pete's sake. The people have a problem, not you cause their lives are so sterile and boring that they get worked up about something relatively minor.

 

[Heather]

AND the pigeons can transmit lung disease. Inhale dried, dusty poo at your peril!!

 

[hedgerow pete]

pigeons taste nice yum

 

[Heather]

But soooooooo difficult to shoot! Small head, and a mass of feathers. I do try. And have had some - the fox enjoys