Help please

[Boomstick]

Hi all,

Don't know whether this is the right forum but looking for some help - just found a bees nest in my lawn while cutting some long grass. The nest is built of moss and the bees have come out to repair my initial damage. There appear to be large green eggs in the nest.
I have a small garden and a 2 yo son, so I don't want to leave it there if it's going to be a stinging risk. On the flip side, I like the idea of my otherwise barren garden helping the local wildlife. Can anyone tell me more about these bees (see attached)? Thank you in advance.

 

[VEG]

They will happily go about their own business without bothering you. As you can tell they were more worried about repairing their nest than attacking you, so dont worry and enjoy watching them.

 

[beebopalula]

Looks like a Brown-banded carder bee.

 

[Rich0909]

Probably the Common Carder bee, a species of bumblebee - if you are able to leave a patch of rough grass around them they are unlikely to bother you and will have gone in a couple of months.

 

[richardbees]

Nice photo -ditto the above, it does look like the Common Carder bee.
Understand your worry but bumblebees aren't the slightest bit aggressive.....so maybe you could make a wooden box around the entrance, about 18" sq and up to 2ft high? This will lift the bees' flight path up from ground level - and prevent your son stepping barefoot or sitting on one in the grass which imo is the usual reason for getting stung.

 

[BeeJayBee]

I have a small garden and a 2 yo son, so I don't want to leave it there if it's going to be a stinging risk. On the flip side, I like the idea of my otherwise barren garden helping the local wildlife. Can anyone tell me more about these bees (see attached)? Thank you in advance.

Could you get some really cheap lawn edging, or similar, from say the 99p shop and put a little fence around the nest so your son will know where to look, and where to be careful in case he hurts the bees. It's unlikely they will hurt him, but the experience of seeing them will probably stay with him for ever, even though he might not remember it clearly when he's older.

 

[pargyle]

You are very lucky to have found a nest like this ... cherish it, it's a rarity these days ! Love the photo BTW.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Very lucky indeed!

 

[Boomstick]

Thank you for all your responses. Ironically I've spent two years buying plants that I hoped would be good for bees, only to kill them with my terrible gardening skills. I now have them living in my lawn! I'll try and leave an uncut area for them and put a small fence up to stop the boy interfering with it.