Bees in poly tunnel

[Minxpinx]

I’ve just had a slightly panicked call from a school - they have a couple of poly tunnels and today several hundred bees are trapped in them. They are not clustering but are mainly sitting on the metal hoops of the structure.
I told them to keep the doors open and with luck they will find their way out.

Does anyone have an idea why bees would suddenly go into a poly tunnel in large numbers? There is nothing for them to forage on in there.

 

[beeno]

I found hundreds of buzzing flying insects in my garage a few weeks ago and they were flies. Probably not honey bees. I went to a primary school where the headmistress was mortified because she had told the parents that the honey bees were wasps! Probably nice and warm in the poly tunnel.

 

[Ian123]

Simply ask them to take a couple of photos and message them over at least you can see what they are dealing with

 

[Minxpinx]

They have sent me some pictures - I can’t work out how to add them here. They are bees not flies

 

[Daisy]

They may be Ivy bees, they are really active at the moment. They could have emerged from the bare ground in the poly tunnel.

 

[Minxpinx]

They may be Ivy bees, they are really active at the moment. They could have emerged from the bare ground in the poly tunnel.

Looking at the pictures again and googling ivy bees - I think you are right! They do look similar to honeybees. Thanks. Hopefully they sort themselves out and get out of the tunnel.