Eviction Advice

[Amo]

Hi,

I have joined this forum in the hope someone can help me. In the last week I have noticed a bee hanging around my horses stable. After watching for a while, I now know that it has been going down a hole in the side of the rubber matting and am worried it is planning on moving in.

Can anyone offer any advice on how to deter it, I don't want to kill it but I can't have it nesting in the stable.

Will there be the only one bee at the moment as I could try plugging the hole up when I know it is out and about?

Thanks

Amo

 

[domino]

If it was last week and it hasn't moved it you're probably okay. If they aren't living there plug it up.

 

[Amo]

It seems to be around an awful lot at the moment, coming and going to the hole so think it may already have moved in, if I am sure there is only one living there I will plug it up somehow, just didn't want to trap any others in, seemed a bit cruel.

 

[Tom Bick]

Probably a solitary bee perhaps a Mason Bee just let it do its thing and it will go away.

It could also be a queen wasp and bigger than a bee and something you don’t want nesting in your stable.

I don’t know but I would expect your stable would be alive with insect life.

 

[drstitson]

1. you need to know what it is - honey bee, bumble, solitary or wasp.
2. "I can't have it nesting in the stable. " if solitary bee - why not?

 

[Amo]

1. you need to know what it is - honey bee, bumble, solitary or wasp.
2. "I can't have it nesting in the stable. " if solitary bee - why not?

I have to admit to knowing nothing about bees, I thought they all lived in groups to be honest. If its a solitary bee I have no issue to be honest, was concerned in case it brought his friends. Will try and look at it closely tonight and try and figure out what type it is.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Luminos]

I have mason bees in my stables.
They like to use the holes in the salt-lick holder.
They really don't cause a problem - if you can identify that it's a bee, as others have suggested, then I would just leave it alone.

 

[Amo]

Ok, so I now have at least 3 bees living in the stable, but I still have no idea what type they are, only way I am going to work out is by taking a picture but they are not very obliging

Do Mason bees live as a group? If so up to how many?

 

[pargyle]

Ok, so I now have at least 3 bees living in the stable, but I still have no idea what type they are, only way I am going to work out is by taking a picture but they are not very obliging

Do Mason bees live as a group? If so up to how many?

Mason Bees are solitary bees - they are females, they mate, then build a nest where they lay their eggs. The males die after mating and the solitary female is left to lat her eggs and rear the brood. There is a nice photo of one here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Mason_bee

If you have several bees going in and out of the same hole it is unlikely that they are Mason Bees - but there are a number of so called 'solitary' bees that live in small groups so it could be one of several alternatives. Some of the species are getting pretty rare so, unless they are becoming a nuisance (unlikely) just leave them bee - a photo if you can get one might help identify what species you have in residence.

 

[dclewis]

Red mason bees for you

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I take it your mention of rubber matting means the hole is inside the horses sleeping space? If so I would plug it up rapidly. If its simply in the stable building and not likely to come into conflict with the horses live and let live. I had a hole in the floor adjacent to the exit to the field (old farm building with 6 stables inside) and two years ago we had a constant stream of fat noisy bees in and out no problem. Last year the hole was inert but bees flew in and out from between the roof and top of the hollow breeze block wall so I think there must have been a new nest up there.

 

[Amo]

Thanks for the replies.

Yes they are actually going down the side of the rubber matting where there is a slight bulge next to the wall. To make it even more inconvenient it is right next to his hay net so where he spends quite a lot of his time. They have done nothing as yet and are being pretty well behaved and keep away from us but it is the fact the number has increased that is worrying me.

I don't want to kill them just get them to move on. Will have to get a picture of them, I may try a bit of bribery with something sugary, no doubt they will sit still long enough then.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Thanks for the replies.

Yes they are actually going down the side of the rubber matting where there is a slight bulge next to the wall. To make it even more inconvenient it is right next to his hay net so where he spends quite a lot of his time. They have done nothing as yet and are being pretty well behaved and keep away from us but it is the fact the number has increased that is worrying me.

I don't want to kill them just get them to move on. Will have to get a picture of them, I may try a bit of bribery with something sugary, no doubt they will sit still long enough then.

I doubt they will move until the end of the season. Being near the hay net concerns me since a bee or bees settling on it and being eaten could in the extreme have a horse bucking and kicking in the confines of the stable and might even end up with a closed airway.
Moving either horse or bees is the only sensible course of action in my view.

 

[Amo]

I doubt they will move until the end of the season. Being near the hay net concerns me since a bee or bees settling on it and being eaten could in the extreme have a horse bucking and kicking in the confines of the stable and might even end up with a closed airway.
Moving either horse or bees is the only sensible course of action in my view.

I have no other options for the horse, no other stables free, so the bees have to go. Is there any way of getting rid of them or do I literally have to seal up the holes, I don't want to trap and kill them if I can avoid it.

Have managed to get a couple of photos so just need to work out how to load them now.

 

[Amo]

Right, I think I have uploaded some photos into the albums section, imaginatively titled stable bees.

 

[greengumbo]

Right, I think I have uploaded some photos into the albums section, imaginatively titled stable bees.

Looks like a bumblebee to me from those pics. Bombus terrestris worker ? Hive will be a couple hundred bees soon I would think.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I have no other options for the horse, no other stables free, so the bees have to go. Is there any way of getting rid of them or do I literally have to seal up the holes, I don't want to trap and kill them if I can avoid it.

Have managed to get a couple of photos so just need to work out how to load them now.

I would take immediate action and put half a litre of diesel down the hole then fill it with expanding foam. Ask yourself do you want to risk a panicked horse kicking the stable walls and possibly injuring itself? Presumably you consider the horse valuable and have an emotional bond to it as a pet/team mate. The loss to the world of one bumble bee nest is insignificant.

 

[Amo]

Thanks for the replies.

I will block the holes up tomorrow morning so that the bees that are trapped outside do not take it out on the horse as he will be in the field.

Couple more questions sorry
1. Am I right in thinking that bees do not generally sting unless they really have to?
2. Any idea how long it will take them to give up and move on, don't relish the thought of angry bees hovering around the stable for days on end. Especially dependent upon the answer above?