neighbours liveing next door who are not happy

[Dishmop]

Leave a jar of honey on his doorstep.....

Then throw stones at it....

 

[thorn]

Sounds to me as if Ryan's dad's neighbours are bullies. They moved in when the bees were already there, set their kids' wendy house down beside his hive then told him to move the hive. Ryan, if you give way to them on this, what'll be the next thing they try to impose upon your dad?
The simple answer is to raise the fence or hedge to 8' high and keep the bees where they are. If it puts the wendy house in constant shadow, so be it. You've dealt with their safety concerns.

 

[the beehive lodge]

its a shame you can't get them to adobt the ferrel swarm or get the husband involved in keeping bees how cool would that be to involve and educate them instead of them be so anti, After all if bees was lost we would all be in trouble (pollination side)
if a wasp / hornet nest took up residence in there garden and you was there i bet they would become your best friend and ask you to help them
i wish you the very best Alan

 

[Dishmop]

Wendy house is probably better to be where it is than if it was further away.

 

[hedgerow pete]

we all have this problem at times where my bee shed is i am held responsible for every single bee/wasp/mossi bite for the whole of birmingham, the easiest way to sort it out is to move the bees some where else for a while untill they calm down,


but i would suggest that you set up a pair of dummy hives and leave those in the garden whilst the others are away . what will happen is this family will continue bitching and will call the council etc and when they turn up and you can prove the bees are else where and the hives that this guy has been complaining about are empty he will look a right muppet and will get told to shut up and get on with his sad life by the council where upon the bees can move make home.

i have always found with these people that once they get going you can not do any thing to shut them up at all but to suffer and move the bees else where

 

[Dishmop]

I have told most of my immediate neighbours about bees... Have spoken to them all sice and they say they havent noticed them at all.
Only 2 neighbours I didnt tell but they dont speak to me anyway because they dont like where I have parked my motorhome. One says its her space, and its not,(she has one in her back garden) and the way she used to park her car she used more room than my van and nobody could use the space next to it, and the other just doesnt like it on the grounds that its nearly opposite her house, but by my calculations she can only see it if she has her nose pressed to the window,they wrote a letter and tried to get others to sign it but were told to grow up and get a life, we get these people everywhere.. I think it gives them a feeling of self importance..... something to moan about and be part of the community....

 

[rbaz]

Doesn't matter where you live or what you do will always be somebody that complains.
I live in France surrounded by loads of land most of it scrub land and a local farmer goes ape when we cut weeds down or plant flowers on it (he even goes out of his way to run them over in his tractor) and he doesn't even own it
Strange world we live in full of crazy people

Hope you find a good solution

 

[Dishmop]

He probably gets EU money for not growing anything...

 

[Frithgar]

but i would suggest that you set up a pair of dummy hives and leave those in the garden whilst the others are away . what will happen is this family will continue bitching and will call the council etc and when they turn up and you can prove the bees are else where and the hives that this guy has been complaining about are empty he will look a right muppet and will get told to shut up and get on with his sad life by the council where upon the bees can move make home.

Further to this, a farmer I know used to get a lot of complaining from a couple in a house near his land every time he went spraying his crops. I'm not getting into an argument about using sprays etc, but this guy was always careful, he only applied when there was very little or no wind at all, made sure it couldn't drift onto anyone elses property etc. He was a beekeeper as well so was doubly careful as he didn't want to hurt his bees.

Anyway, every time he took his sprayer out the couple would ring the appropriate authorities and complain that he was letting dangerous chemicals drift onto their property. The man assigned to deal with this got thoroughly fed up with the complaints as he knew the farmer to be responsible and had never found any truth in what these people claimed. His idea was this, clean the sprayer as thoroughly as possible, then fill with clean water and empty it on the field next to their house. As expected they phoned up to complain that even though the wind was taking the spray AWAY from their house, somehow dangerous chemicals where getting into their garden. The man turned up as usual, spoke to the couple, spoke to the farmer, took a sample from his tank to test for chemicals etc.

The result? The couple were find several thousand pounds for wasting the time of government officials, not sure of the exact charges, but as they made false claims about chemicals etc they had the book thrown at them, they never complained again.

If your neighbours complain about empty boxes then if the council get annoyed enough by the complaints they could end up with a fine or worse. My advice is, befriend the council send them honey, do what it takes. Then enjoy the show when the council are called about your nuiscance empty boxes
Frith

 

[Dishmop]

The advantage that my garden has is that on one side is a neighbour who is only there at weekends. The bottom of the garden backs onto a piece of land that used to be a playground but now has nothing on it. Supposed to be no ball games.. The other side of the garden has a 2 metre fence/wall on the other side of which are parking spaces so cars are at right angles to fence/wall. The next house is set back a long way from the back of my garden. Anybody standing at the back of my house ( on the old park) cannot see my bees flying about because a cherry tree blocks the view of their flightpath, and looking from the side of the house (where cars are parked) the cherry tree is behind the bees and works as camouflage. Of all the neighbours I have spoken to, none of them say that they have seen any increase in bees in their gardens. A couple who had seen bees gave a description and they appeared to be bumbles/carpenter bees.

 

[madasafish]

Apart from my bees being hidden from view from the road by a hedge and having only one adjacent neighbour - who approves of bees - I wear a camouflage beesuit.

White suits advertise bees. Camouflage does not. So unless I tell the across the road neighbours , they do not know.. nor do those living up the hill overloooking me.

 

[nelletap]

Unhappy neighbours..

Parents want to protect their children - but actually many schools are educating children about bees and some are beginning to have their own hives. Many of the National trust properties are starting to have hives and this alongside their need to have visitors who enjoy their visits. I think this reaction has arisen from fear and ignorance as someone else has said. My neighbours one side have three girls - aged about 13, about 11 and just turned 5. I did ask the family before I placed my hive and offered to show the children and I also ordered the 'Bees in the Curriculum' pack from BBKA. Some knowledge about the bees will actually make your neighbour's children less likely to be stung by any sort of bee or wasp. The DVD by Paul Metcalf has been watched by my granddaughters (aged 5 this month and 8) and they are now so keen on the bees it is unbelievable. I think it might be possible to be a little proactive and negotiate. For example, you could point out that the season is almost over and perhaps they would give you a year to demonstrate that they are not a danger and offer to show the children the bees. Or perhaps show Mum first of all. The bee proof hats that have a sort of net so that they can be anchored under the arms and then normal clothes such as anorak, trousers, wellies and long gloves put over the top to bee proof the rest of the body are quite reasonable to buy to protect the children.

Of course I don't know the exact location and how close the hives are to the wendy house. Is there a tall hedge or fence between? Could you add some sort of a barrier to make them feel even safer until you have convinced them? I know that I have seen some sort of netting that has been illustrated as allowing fetes etc to have a bee exhibit so only those inside a tent made of this net need to think about wearing protective clothing. Presumably that same net forming an additional barrier making the bees fly well above would give extra protection? The parents really need to know the difference between bees and wasps because if children have lollipops that attract wasps and are then stung by a wasp they will probably blame the bees.

As someone else said, it may well be easier to find an out apiary but it does seem a pity that misconceptions might drive away the bees when actually we all need to support the bees.

 

[Dishmop]

Had a "thought" today.

Somebody said that bees only belong to you for as long as you can see them.

If a hive swarmed into a neighbour's garden, you probably wouldnt be able to see them.
Neighbour bangs on door..... "Oi, your bees have all come into my garden.."

My response would be,, "wait a minute I'll just go and check" Quick look in garden... bees around hive... perhaps not half as many tho...

say to neighbour,, "no, must be wild ones, mine are still here, do you want to come and have a look? however, if you are worried about a few bees in your garden, I can come and take them away for you...."

 

[biggles]

Had a "thought" today.

Somebody said that bees only belong to you for as long as you can see them.

If a hive swarmed into a neighbour's garden, you probably wouldnt be able to see them.
Neighbour bangs on door..... "Oi, your bees have all come into my garden.."

My response would be,, "wait a minute I'll just go and check" Quick look in garden... bees around hive... perhaps not half as many tho...

say to neighbour,, "no, must be wild ones, mine are still here, do you want to come and have a look? however, if you are worried about a few bees in your garden, I can come and take them away for you...."

I've met a beek who does that. His 14 hives swarmed 23 times this year! He charges to collect. Next year I'm going to advertise in the village free swam collection.
Pete

 

[kazmcc]

Parents want to protect their children - but actually many schools are educating children about bees and some are beginning to have their own hives. Many of the National trust properties are starting to have hives and this alongside their need to have visitors who enjoy their visits. I think this reaction has arisen from fear and ignorance as someone else has said.

The DVD by Paul Metcalf has been watched by my granddaughters (aged 5 this month and 8) and they are now so keen on the bees it is unbelievable.

My ( My? ) bees are the schools bees, if you know what I mean. The whole time we have been planning the project we have had a mixed response, but because we are doing it on the allotment next to the school, there isn't a lot people can do, although no-one has tried to put a stop to it.

We have had our mentor in talking about bees to the kids in asembly, but I find it's mostly the parents who have the problem. Saying that, because I used to be terrified of bees, people have been more likely to listen to me. I can't wait for school to start again, as the bees went in after school broke up. The kids noses are going to be glued up to the fence

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Hi Kaz

The kids noses are going to be glued up to the fence - you should clean up that propolis

Seriously though, is the school allowed to keep a spare epi-pen in case of emergency?

 

[Dishmop]

Seriously though, is the school allowed to keep a spare epi-pen in case of emergency?

You joke of course.... staff are not even allowed to put a plaster on a cut nowadays... and as for giving the kids a hug and cuddle when they fall over...

 

[kazmcc]

They are looking into it, headmistress is dealing with the health and safety side of stuff. I am a mere parent volunteering my time. It was noted at one of the meetings, and there are going to be a couple of teacher training days when bees will be on the agenda, so first aid will be included. There are bees and wasps everywhere, so if a child has a known allergy, then their parents will know and supply the necessary medication. Who knows how anyone who hasn't been stung will react, but that will be the same whether we keep bees nearby or not. There are always wasps nests on the allotments. Two cleared last year, and one year, one under the eaves of the nursery. I have had a good look about and the bees tend to fly away from the school. The way the land lies is buildings and concrete in the direction of school, allotments, stream and park in the other direction. I agree though, it would be a good idea to have one in the first aid kit. Don't know whether there will be a permission form sent round or not....that's up to the school and the govenors.

 

[Beekill]

Neighbours who complain about constantly being stung by our bees or being unable to use their garden because of our honey bee attacks are normally treated as miserable liars or nut cases on this forum.

There is a case often quoted on this forum of one miserable neighbour/liar who complained about bee attacks and the beekeeper had cleverly put an empty hive in his garden to fool him. This proves that all neighbours are liars and we should continue to treat them as such.

Why should we give up our hobby just because it almost always causes misery for neighbours?

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

A four-year bump! Blimey! Good fences make good neighbours and for beeks HIGH fences. As we have on here keeping bees downhill from someone is asking for trouble.