Newbie from Sussex

[Embrace]

Hi All,

Firstly, I am not a bee keeper but I do have a Bee related question... Not sure if this is the right place for it, but I'll give it a try!!

Basically for the last week or so, I have been finding lots of bees in my garden that cannot fly. They are sort of crawling on the grass, get maybe 1cm off the ground and then fall down. I have also found 8 bees that have died on the patio within the past week. It's really sad to see

My question is:

1. What could be causing it? Is it the heat (Been over 28 degrees everyday here in the south east).
2. Is there anything I can do to help?

Thanks in advance!

 

[pargyle]

Hi All,

Firstly, I am not a bee keeper but I do have a Bee related question... Not sure if this is the right place for it, but I'll give it a try!!

Basically for the last week or so, I have been finding lots of bees in my garden that cannot fly. They are sort of crawling on the grass, get maybe 1cm off the ground and then fall down. I have also found 8 bees that have died on the patio within the past week. It's really sad to see

My question is:

1. What could be causing it? Is it the heat (Been over 28 degrees everyday here in the south east).
2. Is there anything I can do to help?

Thanks in advance!

First need to know what sort of bees they are...

Round and fluffy - bumble bees.

Small and not fluffy - honey bees.

Have you noticed anywhere in the vicinity that there are bees going in and out of a hole in a wall, tree, roof, chimney etc. Look upwards.

If they are honey bees and they have a hive/nest somewhere near they could be worker bees returning to the colony overladen and are just taking a breather before the last step. Bees do work themselves to death and dead bodies in the vicinity of the hive entrance is not unusual.

Look a bit further and let us know - photo would help if you can't tell (Oops - forum rules won't let you post a picture till you have more posts). Someone will be along with advice.

 

[Embrace]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply! They are Bumble Bees (look exactly the same as this http://portsmouthbeekeepers.co.uk/cms/images/stories/bumblebee.jpg).

I haven't noticed any nests, but I will have a look later this afternoon!

Thank you for your help!

 

[pargyle]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply! They are Bumble Bees (look exactly the same as this http://portsmouthbeekeepers.co.uk/cms/images/stories/bumblebee.jpg).

I haven't noticed any nests, but I will have a look later this afternoon!

Thank you for your help!

There will be a nest somewhere nearby and these are probably just natural deaths ... nothing to worry about in bumbles, there will only be a small colony wherever they are and they will all be gone in the autumn as only the queen survives the winter.

Not much you can do to help them this year but for the future there are lots of bee friendly plants you can grow in your garden that will encourage them to come and visit you and find food.

There's a good list on the Royal Horticultural Society website:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/Sustainable-gardening/pdfs/RHS_Pollinators_PlantList_v1

 

[flyingfox]

Welcom!

Welcome! Best of luck