Evicting Bees from inside the wall of my house?

[Rip]

Background: I moved in to my current house around 4 years ago and every Spring since I've noticed big fat Bees coming and going from a vent hole in the brickwork of my house, being quite laid back and lover of all animals I just kind of left them to it because they seemed to disappear at some point in the Summer. Knowing nothing about Bees I just kind of assumed that they moved in in the Spring and then went somewhere else when they were done using my wall and I always figured that when they left one year I'd just block the hole up so they'd have to find another home when they came back, but I recently learned that they may well actually be hibernating in there over the Winter too.

The vent hole in question is very close to my front door which means there is usually Bees swarming around the door in some kind of holding pattern while they take their turns coming and going from the wall which hasn't been too much of an issue up until this current Spring time where this year there seems to be a lot more Bees, so unfortunately it's probably time that I evict them from my wall as really I don't know what exactly what they are doing in there (damage?).

I have no idea what type of Bees they are but they are massive and look like these (hard to tell though as they never stay still):

More so this one I think

This is the vent hole by my front door:

I'm not one to just block it up and let them die of just kick them out leaving them homeless so I've come up with a loose plan of re homing them so I'm here to ask you guys if my plan will work, if it is a good idea or if there is an easier/better way?

So, I was going to build a wooden Bee house and hang it somewhere near the Bees current front door to my wall using these tubes and some kind of wooden back and frame:

Not really sure how many I'd need, to Bees share tubes or do they need a tube each? Do I need bigger ones for my fat Bees?

Then I was going to fashion up some kind of a one-way Bee valve that covers the vent hole so the Bees can leave but not return, I bough a couple of "Bee Escapes" to join together to make them wider (as my Bees are massive), no at all finished yet, this is just the basic idea:

So my train of thought here was that the Bees come out of my wall and cannot get back in so they just kind of buzz around a bit and maybe notice the newly built Bee house and just kind of move in, then if they do actually hibernate in there that I'd move the house to nearby field while they're asleep ready for the following Spring?

Soooo, am I mad?

 

[Swarm]

Well they are Bumble bees so no need to worry. They will die out after rearing virgin queens who are the only ones to hibernate. Those huge, early Spring Bumbles are newly emerged from hibernation and looking to find a nest site.
Our Native Bumbles are gentle bees and are no reason for concern, however Tree Bumble Bees from the continent have become very numerous over the last few years and these can be a little defensive of their nests. They are easily identified. Tricoloured, tan thorax, black abdomen with white tip.
I would do your usual thing and ignore them.

 

[For want of a better word]

Bombus hyppynorums... tree bumbles

Builders foam would sort them out if being a nuisance... or leave it till they go in the Autumn and then foam up all the gaps they are going in!

 

[drex]

And block up the entry hole during winter to prevent more invaders next year

 

[Rip]

Thank you, I will try and get a picture of one to confirm. Just to confirm there are plenty of Bees entering the wall as well as leaving it. So if they are in fact not hibernating over the Winter, I should be able to block the hole up with a mesh vent of some sort after they have left in a month or two?

And they won't be filling up my walls with honey or eating my cavity wall insulation or anything like that?

 

[Rip]

As much as I don't want to block them out, they do sometimes all swarm around the front door which isn't ideal.

 

[Birdie Wife]

As much as I don't want to block them out, they do sometimes all swarm around the front door which isn't ideal.

They will be gone very soon - the apparent swarm is just the males waiting for females coming out of the nest. Male bumblebees, like male honeybees, have no sting and so are completely harmless.


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[Birdie Wife]

Thank you, I will try and get a picture of one to confirm. Just to confirm there are plenty of Bees entering the wall as well as leaving it. So if they are in fact not hibernating over the Winter, I should be able to block the hole up with a mesh vent of some sort after they have left in a month or two?

And they won't be filling up my walls with honey or eating my cavity wall insulation or anything like that?

Yes, no, and no, in that order


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[pargyle]

Thank you, I will try and get a picture of one to confirm. Just to confirm there are plenty of Bees entering the wall as well as leaving it. So if they are in fact not hibernating over the Winter, I should be able to block the hole up with a mesh vent of some sort after they have left in a month or two?

And they won't be filling up my walls with honey or eating my cavity wall insulation or anything like that?

No .. their nests are relatively small and unlike honey bees they don't make huge amounts of comb and store lots of honey. They won't do any damage .. all except the queens die off at the end of summer and they just hibernate over winter. If you block up the hole when all activity has stopped around the early part of September they won't get in next year. You are very lucky... some bumbles are getting very scarce, make the most of the fact that they like your premises.

 

[Rip]

Perfect, thanks guys That's great that they are harmless but they do freak some visitors out when they are all buzzing around the front door. There are actually other vent holes in my house so maybe they'll find another one next Spring if I block this current one up later in the year, that would be cool.

I've just managed to get a (bad) photo of one of the medium sized ones leaving to give you an idea of what they look like:

 

[Swarm]

They don't make a large nest of wax combs like Honey bees and nowhere near the amount of honey. Honestly, I wouldn't worry about them, they'll be gone in a few weeks.

 

[Rip]

No .. their nests are relatively small and unlike honey bees they don't make huge amounts of comb and store lots of honey. They won't do any damage .. all except the queens die off at the end of summer and they just hibernate over winter. If you block up the hole when all activity has stopped around the early part of September they won't get in next year. You are very lucky... some bumbles are getting very scarce, make the most of the fact that they like your premises.

I do actually like them here, I actually bought some Beebombs recently for the back garden to attract more Bees, I may well actually just leave them be then and let them come and go each year, maybe a small sign by the front door explaining they are harmless will do the trick.

 

[Swarm]

Heh, Bombus Hypnorum. Tree Bumble.

As pointed out by Birdie Wife, it's the drones you are seeing buzzing around above your door.

 

[Rip]

Heh, Bombus Hypnorum. Tree Bumble.

As pointed out by Birdie Wife, it's the drones you are seeing buzzing around above your door.

Thank you, now I've got the species I'll go read up

 

[pargyle]

Heh, Bombus Hypnorum. Tree Bumble.

As pointed out by Birdie Wife, it's the drones you are seeing buzzing around above your door.

Yes the flying one is Bombus Hypnorum .. they are gradually becoming the dominant bumbles in the Southern half of the UK and rapidly spreading to much further north.

They can be a bit more agressive than other bumble types but, at the height their nest is, they should not prove to be a significant problem.

The males looking for females can be a bit more of a pest as they hang around the entrance of the nest looking for the opportunity .. bit of hooligan behaviour sometimes but not really a danger unless you interfere with them.

I'd still leave them be until they have finished nesting ...

 

[Rip]

Yes the flying one is Bombus Hypnorum .. they are gradually becoming the dominant bumbles in the Southern half of the UK and rapidly spreading to much further north.

They can be a bit more agressive than other strains but at the height their nest is they should not prove to be a significant problem.

The males looking for females can be a bit more of a pest as they hang around the entrance of the nest looking for the opportunity .. bit of hooligan behaviour sometimes but not really a danger unless you interfere with them.

I'd still leave them be until they have finished nesting ...

Oh of course, I wouldn't ever do anything while they are doing their thing. I'd either just leave everything alone and let them use the wall every year or if they became a problem I'd wait until they've left one year and then block the hole.

 

[coffindodger]

Oh of course, I wouldn't ever do anything while they are doing their thing. I'd either just leave everything alone and let them use the wall every year or if they became a problem I'd wait until they've left one year and then block the hole.

I like your attitude to the bees, but don't fill that hole. It is a weep hole to let water out if any penetrates the outer brick skin and let a little evaporation occur. If you block it you could have problems, particularly if it is a timber framed house. You can get plastic units designed to fit in the hole and still keep out flying insects; not expensive and also look better than filler. Any builder's merchants will know what you need.

 

[Rip]

I like your attitude to the bees, but don't fill that hole. It is a weep hole to let water out if any penetrates the outer brick skin and let a little evaporation occur. If you block it you could have problems, particularly if it is a timber framed house. You can get plastic units designed to fit in the hole and still keep out flying insects; not expensive and also look better than filler. Any builder's merchants will know what you need.

Yeah thanks but I wouldn't block it completely anyway, I'd definitely get a proper vent cap/insert

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

A bombus hypnorum nest I had to 'rescue' last weekend as it had fallen out of the ivy where it was lodged in an old bird nest. about the size of a large orange (or small grapefruit

 

[Rip]

A bombus hypnorum nest I had to 'rescue' last weekend as it had fallen out of the ivy where it was lodged in an old bird nest. about the size of a large orange (or small grapefruit

Perfect, I can live with that.

I just went out my front door and heard a Bee making a hell of a noise as it was caught in a web being attacked by a False Widow spider (loads around the outside of my house), so I got the Bee out of the web and spent a bit of time gently getting all the spider web off of it but sadly a few minutes later it died, the spider must have already bit it.

I've now cleared all the spider webs away and treated the area with some natural spider repellent, same stuff I put around my doors and windows to keep those False Widows out.