Bumble Bees

[Shabro]

I've given up going out for swarms after too many people swearing and getting irate because someone has doubted their ability to identify a honey bee

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[HM Honey]

I've given up going out for swarms after too many people swearing and getting irate because someone has doubted their ability to identify a honey bee

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

I have never come across this Shabro? I usually get the person to take a photo with their phone and send it to me. not always obvious what type of bee it is but you can usually tell its not a honey bee.

Below is a photo from the woman who called last night.

This to me is obviously a tree bumble (or "new garden bumblebee" as they are sometimes called).

 

[Shabro]

I have never come across this Shabro? I usually get the person to take a photo with their phone and send it to me. not always obvious what type of bee it is but you can usually tell its not a honey bee.

Below is a photo from the woman who called last night.

This to me is obviously a tree bumble (or "new garden bumblebee" as they are sometimes called).

OK, maybe a slight exaggeration but it has happened, and I would say 90% I've been out to turn out to be bumble bees, even after lengthy discussions on the phone.

Its the odd one that starts stressing that you have to remove the bumblebees at the bottom of the garden that's the most annoying.

 

[MuswellMetro]

I've given up going out for swarms after too many people swearing and getting irate because someone has doubted their ability to identify a honey bee

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

i am getting that way too, often told "well you will getting the honey from them, why won't you take them away"....err because they are bumble bees, also it is always your fault why the have bumble bees..as you are a beekeeper and must have lost them, every thing is a BEE

also get called swarms that turn to be wasp nest and of course I tell them no i cannot kill them as not licensed to use poison ( nor inclined to) Even if it is a household spray from Tescos.. that's when you get more abuse

 

[meetballuk]

i got pissed off lady today, started shouting and hearling abuse, then started to interigate me about local pest control companys, like im a "f"ing yellow pages.
but the other 10 calls today were very nice and agreed to keep them!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I have had about 10 calls in the last week all sounding like bumbles.

I get that if I inadvertently put the phone up to my deafer ear
I'd either get BT to check the phone line - or maybe there's a loose connection in the phone's earpiece.

 

[MuswellMetro]

I think the thundery heat is getting to people today (27c in London), just had an irate lady knock on the front door with a dead bee threatening to sue me as one of her children had been STUNG BY ONE YOUR "F"ing BEES"

Pointed out that i do not keep bees in the garden and my nearest hives are 5 miles away, also that's is a bumble bee in her hand and not the kind of bee I keep, I point to a black feral bee on the American lilac ..."that's not a F"" ing bee that's a wasp" fortunately the postman then arrived with July's Beecraft magazine. he agrees it was a bumble bee in hand and in the mag, lots of bee pictures and not a single bumble bee..reluctantly accepted that it was not one of those "things" that stung her daughter,

Thought better not ask her if she wanted to buy a jar of Honey

 

[alldigging]

I've just been out to take some photos of them on my comfrey on my allotment.
They just don't keep still! (And I am a rubbish photographer!)

 

[HM Honey]

They are beautiful creatures aren't they? Its nice to see an introduced species doing so well. We sure need them at the moment with bees going the way they are.

 

[HM Honey]

Muswell, I would have asked her "who the F*#k she thought she was talking to" and would have slammed the door in her face after telling her to stick the bumble bee up her arse.

but then, I do tend to get into spots of bother for my angry reactions to some situations.....lol

 

[EpicLettie]

You could start by explaining that they are docile and that it's almost impossible to be stung by them even when you pick them up and handle them and that they should be pleased to have them.

All the time we "take them away" we continue to encourage an ignorance of the natural world.

I have them in the walls outside my doorways and have no issues either with visitors or my dogs.

Chris

Same, I've had a fair encounter with these bees, and no one seems to want to understand the bees, they just want them gone. I think this is a good idea

 

[EpicLettie]

Yeah.

 

[merylvingien]

As a pest controller i am getting on average 15 - 20 calls a day which turn out to be bumbles.

How many can they see? 100s? (honey) or less than 50?(bumble)
What are they doing? Flying about aimlessly around the nest entrance?(bumble)

Are they fluffy and black?(bumble)
Do they look like wasps(wasps/honey)

Just 1 or 2 per minute (at the moment) and dissapearing quickly and accurately into the nest(wasps)

You can boil it down very quickly by asking a few simple questions.

The beeswarm collection page on wasp control uk is getting some serious hits per day this year.

 

[Tabby15]

Had a victory for bumblebees. Went to investigate after (as a scout leader) I'd had an email informing me that there was a wasps or bees nest at the local camp site. Turns out they were bumblebees that had set up home in some logs that were due to be split for the camp fire. Have got agreement that they will be left in place, cordoned off and could provide valuable education for the Beaver Scouts and Cub Scouts.

 

[HM Honey]

Nice one Tabby....

 

[Outlander]

14 calls yesterday for bumbles.

 

[village girl]

14 calls yesterday for bumbles.

None moved......
None destroyed......
Educating people seems to work

 

[Ben90]

I mentioned it on another thread a few days back, but while I was working I got a callout from someone around the corner who knows I have bees, saying she had a swarm in the eaves of her house. I only got the message and the address from my family when I got home, so obviously I didn't have the opportunity to verify that they were honeybees before visiting.

Got there, and they were tree bumbles, of course. Oh well, at least it was literally around the corner from home.

She was happy to leave them be once I told her what they were and a bit about them.

I'm building a swarm collection kit now, I'm planning on including a copy of my identification guide so I can identify species on-site, and a few copies of the bumblebee conservation trust's notes on each species so I can leave them with a few facts about whatever species they have living in/around their home, for whenever it turns out to be a bumble nest rather than a swarm.

Most people in the area I live seem to like bees, but are vaguely afraid of being stung by them, so they seem to be fine with them living nearby after a bit of reassurance.

 

[Chris Luck]

Great stuff guys, leaflets are a good idea as well, I'll get some sent to me in France to hand out when "visiting".

Chris

 

[Finman]

.
This is best what I know. To collect money to bumbles!!
http://bumblebeeconservation.org/support-us

Individual membership (£20)
Concessionary rate e.g. student, retired, unemployed (£16)
Youth option for under 16s (£12)
Family membership (£30)
Teacher/Youth Leaders (£24)
Overseas rate (£30)
Benefactor (£50)
Life member (£500 one-off payment)



This kind of operations produce to final goal 40-5%. The most of money goes to "office costs".

I has spoken in Finland too that "bumbles are vanishing". If you look the earth map, you see that next to eastwards there is a huge Russian Taiga up to Korea. Who is killing them there?

It was researched with gene mapping that bumble genepool is half size of USA.

Make a donation to save Siberian bumbles!!!