Bees in garden office roof - leave alone?

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Pbutterworth

New Bee
Joined
Nov 4, 2018
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Location
Kent
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Hi,

I have identified that a colony is living in the roof space of our garden office. I wonder if it was one of my swarms from last year!

It's not an easy place to get to, and would cause quite a bit of damage if I (or anyone) was to try to remove them. Are there any issues just leaving them there?

I have a couple of hives in the garden, so obviously don't mind bees around!

Thanks
Paul
 
Only if they get stroppy or the honey might melt if they die.
 
Hi,

I have identified that a colony is living in the roof space of our garden office. I wonder if it was one of my swarms from last year!

It's not an easy place to get to, and would cause quite a bit of damage if I (or anyone) was to try to remove them. Are there any issues just leaving them there?

I have a couple of hives in the garden, so obviously don't mind bees around!

Thanks
Paul
It rather depends on whether the space they are living in is suitable - are they going to be a nuisance coming and going, if it gets really hot is the honey/comb going to melt and it if does where is it going to go ? What can you tolerate ?

Is there just one entrance they are using - could you do a trap out to get them out of the space and seal it up ?

How much effort will it take to get at the nest to cut it out ? They are unlikely to go away in a hurry and almost certainly you will get swarms from them. There are downsides to having feral bees in a domestic building but many people for many centuries have had wild bees living in cavities in their property without any serious concerns.
 
It rather depends on whether the space they are living in is suitable - are they going to be a nuisance coming and going, if it gets really hot is the honey/comb going to melt and it if does where is it going to go ? What can you tolerate ?

Is there just one entrance they are using - could you do a trap out to get them out of the space and seal it up ?

How much effort will it take to get at the nest to cut it out ? They are unlikely to go away in a hurry and almost certainly you will get swarms from them. There are downsides to having feral bees in a domestic building but many people for many centuries have had wild bees living in cavities in their property without any serious concerns.
Its a challenge to get to, its quite high to and would cause quite a lot of damage to the get access to the nest.
I think I may just leave for now, if it becomes an issue I will rethink.
 
I have not seen bees breaking up a hive on the roof. In my parents' house, I poisoned wasp hives under the roof several times, as they caused discomfort and constantly flew into the house. It seems to me that bees can cause some harm to your design, but it's up to you to get rid of them or not. I hope that nothing like this will happen to my garden room. I've read that insects like to establish their colonies near a human home because it's easier to get food and warmth. If I were you, I wouldn't touch bees since their populations are already declining yearly.
 

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