help!!!

[siuk77]

hello,

I think i may have a bumble bee nest in my roof area of my house, please see photo attached. It appears to be the odd one or two bumble bee crawling up the wall and disappearing underneath the brick into the roof area. My wife is telling me to just leave them alone, as she would be more worried if it was a wasps nest. The bees are not bothering us when my children are playing in the garden, am i best just to let nature bee?. I cannot afford a beekeeper to get them removed as i am sure it would run into hundreds of pounds.

please see attached pic, you cant see much at the moment but i have placed an arrow where the bees are going into

 

[enrico]

If they are any sort of bumble bee then they will be no problem, if they are a honey bee then you should be able to get a local beekeeper to have a look and advise. In any event if they are causing you no problem then .......
My guess..... Maybe masonry bees, no problem, gone in a month!
E

 

[ratcatcher]

if it is bumble bees then a beekeeper would not want them, listen to your wife, leave them bee

 

[siuk77]

i did not even know there was such a thing as masonry bumble bees, they are defo bumble bees hairy big stripy and big backside so to speak. Strange but i did find a fully grown dead one on the kids trampoline the other morning maybe they are dying off already. Sorry for going over board but i have this nightmare vision like one of those programmes where they are crawling through the wall etc. Why would they be gone in a month do they not hang around in one spot for long also what is the difference between a masonry n normal bumble bee

 

[siuk77]

to be honest the flowers in the garden have come out really good within a week

 

[pargyle]

Probably Bombus Hypnorum. look them up on Google ... they really won't hurt and will be gone by the autumn. They usually won't sting unless you really interfere with them ... and at that height they will be coming and going well above the height where you would get in their way. You'll find the odd dead one on the ground under where they are nesting ... a few will die as they only live a few weeks, but there will be new ones hatching out through the summer. Lovely to watch them foraging in the garden and you should take the opportunity to let your children study them - there's lots of different bumbles and solitary bees you can see around. Feel fortunate that they have chosen to live with you and just leave them bee (Sorry .....).

 

[oliver90owner]

Mason bees use holes in walls to deposit eggs, and a food store for each separate larva. They do not all use the same entrance as they are solitary bees.

Bumble bees will only have a few hundred workers and will vacate the nest forever in late summer. The queens get mated, hibernate over the winter and each then each survivor will found a new nest in the spring - if she is lucky.

 

[siuk77]

i keep the window open very very slighty in my daughters room as that is the window in the pic, i dont want them in the house

 

[enrico]

Put a net across it!
E

 

[siuk77]

i bet there are hundreds up there, maybe not in the loft but maybe behind the brick i shudder at the thought

 

[pargyle]

i keep the window open very very slighty in my daughters room as that is the window in the pic, i dont want them in the house

They would only come in by mistake ... and if you leave the window open the odds are they will go out the same way. Bee are very clean insects ... they are not like flies scavenging on disgusting stuff and spreading germs.

Stop worrying ... they will be fine. You won't find a beekeeper who will remove them and a pest controller brought in to kill them will charge you - and if he's at all sensible he will tell you what we've all been saying ... leave 'em be ...

 

[Moggett]

I've just had neighbours from up the road call at the house with the opening line "you keep bees don't you? We've got some in our bird box and were wondering if they were yours"

Bumble bees in a nesting box quite high up in a tree but not as high as the house. With binoculars looked like the tree bumblebees Pargyle mentions. Quite a few flying around but not bothering anyone so the advice was leave alone followed by explanation of life cycle. They are now happy.

I would suggest the OP encourages the children to learn about their new neighbours so they can tell everyone in school all about them!

 

[Moggett]

Belt and braces though, as advised earlier best to tape some netting over the open window to prevent any coming in by mistake. Like any wild creature they can be defensive if someone small sticks their head out of the window for a closer look!

 

[siuk77]

good be worse wasps!!!!!

 

[oliver90owner]

i shudder at the thought

A very few hundreds? Stop thinking you are a mouse instead of a man! They are relatively harmless creatures which deserve a rightful place on our planet. They will do no harm to either you or the roof if just left alone to get on with their lives in peace.

 

[siuk77]

okay, i just don't want a swarm of them coming out of the outside wall.

 

[oliver90owner]

Bumble bees do not swarm. Reproduction is by queens founding new nests after the original has been abandoned. No workers involved as they all perish in the autumn.

Honey bees swarm as a means of reproduction. One queen with thousands of workers move to a new home.

 

[siuk77]

would the bumble bees be flying all over the place in the loft or do they just tend to stick to one area?

 

[thenovice]

i bet there are hundreds up there, maybe not in the loft but maybe behind the brick i shudder at the thought

stop shuddering. Bees are usually not killer machines. If you can get a pic we can ascertain if it are honey bees or bumble bees. If bumble bees, that high up they will hardly cause a problem and gone next season. IF honey bees, you will have to have it removed ASAP as the nest will build up and will need serious work to dig out if getting bigger. killing a nest off is not an option as the comb will start rotting and cause more issues than the bees did the first place.

 

[Moggett]

Unlike honeybees and wasps bumblebee nest don't contain that many bees. My guess is that they may be nesting in the insulation material near to the entrance they are using. The bees are looking for nectar and pollen, so they would have no reason to fly around the loft space.

Once they leave in the Autumn wax moth will eat the remains of their nest - nature thinks of everything!