Have my bees outgrown my garden?

[gavin]

1. Accept that beekeeping is inappropriate in your garden, in your circumstances. Powerful colonies can turn nasty at short notice.

2. Apologise to your neighbour.

3. Find a temporary site 3+ miles away. Move *all* your bees there.

4. In a month move them to your nearby site, if you are sure that it is an acceptable site in the long term, for cranky as well as nice colonies.

If you find 3 difficult, see if the local beekeeping association can help.

 

[BeeJayBee]

4, There will (still be a hive with bees inside) in the position currently occupied by the large colony, which has brood across at least 7 frames of the first super (and will receive the returning flying bees). This will have a new queen introduced when I am certain that I have the original queen in one of the nucs.

I can't see how this will help the situation, I would have thought it best to move all your bees far enough away so that none will return to their current site.

2, He is working well out of the flight path but the electric tools, hammering etc is drawing the guard bees across to him.

If you and your neighbour think the work he's doing might be annoying the bees then it would be wisest, surely, to move them all away until the work has been completed.

 

[psafloyd]

Move the bees and leave your NEIGHBOUR to get on with his tinkering.

When I first read your post, I feared that insecticides may have had a horrible effect on the size of your bees...

 

[Bucks_Boy]

I have addressed your issues twice but you choose to ignore that.

Move them out. Simple.

PH

 

[Gardenbees]

Yes, they have outgrown the garden, if the neighbour's garden is that close. Sorry - you'll just have to move them I think. I love my garden bees, and it's nice to have them nearby, but they're 140ft from the houses! 5m away is just not do-able I fear. Even really calm bees will have off days, and if they totally lose their temper then your neighbour will effectively lose the use of his garden - they can bother people 100ft away, or more, if they're very defensive.

 

[MandF]

I strongly suspect which side the law is going to support. The literally injured innocent party or the owner of tens of thousands of stinging insects..........

Wow, why are these questions/debates always dragged down to the "law" scaremongering? It does nothing for the debate.

If your bees are getting nasty, relocating is one option, especially if you have a site available, even if it is temporary. As you have a site I would do this - temporarily - until you have a more peaceful colony again, when you might want to try them back in your garden.

As for the neighbour, him building a deck is a temporary situation, even if bees werent tetchy before, having someone banging/drilling 15' away, plus possibly sweating profusely in his old garden/work clothes is likely to grab their attention.

So, move them away, until they have calmed down, or you have calmed them down by requeening, AND until your neighbour has finished his work. Try them back in your garden, and if they settle down again, no problem.

I certainly would not be moving bees because I was scared of being prosecuted.

 

[MandF]

And to add, just because a colony gets bigger, it doesnt mean they automatically become nastier. The colony has outgrown your garden if you cannot cope in that space.

You shouldnt put up with nasty bees whatever the size of the colony, whatever the location. But again, it is entirely possible this is just a temporary phase - due to the weather, dwindling stores, neighbour banging away 15' away.

I do wonder why some people have a downer on keeping bees in gardens, compared with, say, allotments - I dont remember anyone with a problem on an allotment being told they have to move their bees for fear of prosecution by someone stung?

Is it jealousy I wonder?

 

[Teemore]

If I remember correctly, there is at least one poster on this forum who moved bees off an allotment because other allotment holders were complaining.

I would not say that there is a downer on keeping bees in a garden - just a desire to make people be aware of the wider context in which they are or want to keep bees. It is about awareness of your neighbours and passers by and the impact your bees are having.
There is a vast difference between keeping bees in a 2 acre garden as compared to a tiny plot that is surrounded by neighbours and children at play etc. In this instance the OP has done the right thing by seeking advice on the forum, just as others have done in the past. Whether they or anyone else chooses to listen the advice...... I would really encourage the OP to keep on side with their neighbours and temporarily move the bees away. Tell your neighbours the bees are being moved. When the bees have got over the disturbance of the deck building and move, think about bringing them home again. If you do move them home, just be prepared to have to move them again if their temper takes a turn for the worse again and the neighbours start to complain...

As for moving bees out of fear of being prosecuted, I would have thought that most people would move their bees to maintain a civil relationship with their neighbours and and as a simple courtesy!! Sometimes it is better to think of others and not yourself.

PS I have four hives and a nuc in my garden at present but by way of context, the garden is about 3/4 of an acre and my nearest neighbour is about 300 yards away (and a former farmer, beekeeper and general countryman!).

 

[Skyhook]

I would move them ALL away immediately- hopefully if you can't find a temporary site your local association may help. Sort out your re-queening issues. If you then achieve lovely calm bees, you can decide if they are OK to bring back to the garden.

That's where I'm at at the moment, with a couple of queens on order.

.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

If you are planning to move to 600 metres away, the two colonies can go without a problem. Some of the flying bees from these will return to the original site - probably not all. As it will be a smaller colony they will be less of an agressive problem if they have a queen there, but don't assume they will be gentle lambs and the bad tempered bees may be alive for a couple more months so these should be removed too. This third colony could be taken 3 miles away and then returned to the 600 metre apiary a week or two later. IF you can find an out apiary.

An alternative might be to take back the flyers to the 600 metre apiary, keep them locked in for 3 days and then let them fly. Maybe destroy any flyers that return although I don't like the idea of that myself.
Thinking aloud. Comments may well follow!

 

[MandF]

If I remember correctly, there is at least one poster on this forum who moved bees off an allotment because other allotment holders were complaining.

Was he being told to move them on here? That bees are intrinsically dangerous animals which shouldn't be kept near non-beekeepers, for fear they turn killer bees, sting someone and make him be sued for thousands?

As for moving bees out of fear of being prosecuted, I would have thought that most people would move their bees to maintain a civil relationship with their neighbours and and as a simple courtesy!! Sometimes it is better to think of others and not yourself.

Exactly my point. Move your bees (or not) based upon your neighbours, not for fear of a prosecution which would never happen.

We have given the same advice, temporarily move the bees, then think about moving them back when they have calmed down, and be prepared to move them back out again if they revert to nuisance bees.

This advice would be the same if they were causing a nuisance on a rooftop, balcony, small garden, huge garden, allotment, apiary with residential area around.

 

[MartinL]

Yes, they have outgrown the garden, if the neighbour's garden is that close. Sorry - you'll just have to move them I think. I love my garden bees, and it's nice to have them nearby, but they're 140ft from the houses! 5m away is just not do-able I fear. Even really calm bees will have off days, and if they totally lose their temper then your neighbour will effectively lose the use of his garden - they can bother people 100ft away, or more, if they're very defensive.

By virtue of the fact that my neighbor is "Next Door" his garden bounds mine!!!!!

The bees are >35m from my house, similarly >40M from his. It is only the work he is doing at the moment that puts him (at the closest) 5m away. They and our other neighbors, are happy with the bees, which have resided in my garden for some considerable time.

However,he fact he was stung (twice within 24 hours) has highlighted;
1, If I want to grow my hobby, I need to move some (the majority) of the hives to the new location.
2, Any hives remaining need to be positioned carefully with all neighbors in mind.

 

[MartinL]

If you are planning to move to 600 metres away, the two colonies can go without a problem. Some of the flying bees from these will return to the original site - probably not all. As it will be a smaller colony they will be less of an agressive problem if they have a queen there, but don't assume they will be gentle lambs and the bad tempered bees may be alive for a couple more months so these should be removed too. This third colony could be taken 3 miles away and then returned to the 600 metre apiary a week or two later. IF you can find an out apiary.

An alternative might be to take back the flyers to the 600 metre apiary, keep them locked in for 3 days and then let them fly. Maybe destroy any flyers that return although I don't like the idea of that myself.
Thinking aloud. Comments may well follow!

Thanks, that was the essence of my plan. Was just asking if anyone had done something similar. It's not as though they are patrolling in mighty squadrons, but some tools do get them going, especially my stapler???
I do feel guilty that he was stung. Strangely he is rather embarrassed about it too.