posible hedgerow pete on watch dog??

[madasafish]

Unbelievable !! That people charge I have done Fell rescue and 2 years on life boats NO pay and No expenses I put it down to GREED on most peoples part but thats the society that we live in people are not prepared to help others its "whats in it for me" mentality that has ruined this country

I suspect that sort of reply is best aimed at MPs and other thieves and not at beekeepers...

 

[iamduvern]

I suspect that sort of reply is best aimed at MPs and other thieves and not at beekeepers...

As most bee keepers are hobbiests then yes its aimed at them If I was to do it as a living then I would expect fair reward if I get a phone call from a local farmer telling me that he has a fox bothering his stock I go and shoot the fox I do not expect payment for it as I get a little ferreting and pigeon shooting in return Fell rescue and lifeboat work I did as its the RIGHT thing to do
People should get their priorities right no go around charging little old ladies who can least afford outrageous charges charged by some and how many people declare these earnings to the tax man??

 

[PaleoPerson]

As most bee keepers are hobbiests then yes its aimed at them If I was to do it as a living then I would expect fair reward if I get a phone call from a local farmer telling me that he has a fox bothering his stock I go and shoot the fox I do not expect payment for it as I get a little ferreting and pigeon shooting in return Fell rescue and lifeboat work I did as its the RIGHT thing to do
People should get their priorities right no go around charging little old ladies who can least afford outrageous charges charged by some and how many people declare these earnings to the tax man??

I have not taken payments for all visits made, there is common sense. In some cases, a discussion over the phone will suffice. As someone incorrectly commented on, I am not unhappy with the thirty quid.

If the tax man was to get involved, I do not think they would be interested in giving a rebate.

When you add up the real cost of collecting a swarm on only two or three frames and then getting through to a strong nuc, let alone a strong hive is can cost you a lot of time unless the circumstances are in the bees favour. Would you pick and choose which swarms you collect?

Re: the bees high in the gutter, there was never the intention to do anything with them, but the house owner wanted to be advised about them. I went, I told him exactly what they were and what the life cycle was and what he needs to do later on in the year and he was very happy with this.

 

[psafloyd]

As most bee keepers are hobbiests then yes its aimed at them If I was to do it as a living then I would expect fair reward if I get a phone call from a local farmer telling me that he has a fox bothering his stock I go and shoot the fox I do not expect payment for it as I get a little ferreting and pigeon shooting in return Fell rescue and lifeboat work I did as its the RIGHT thing to do
People should get their priorities right no go around charging little old ladies who can least afford outrageous charges charged by some and how many people declare these earnings to the tax man??

If you get some pigeon shooting and ferreting in return, then you have reached an understanding with the farmer. Therefore you are being rewarded for doing that job and not doing it for nothing.

As for outrageous charges, I don't recall any of the posters claiming an unreasonable fee. And you are using an emotive (but irrelevant) example of a little old lady. I would imagine the charges are largely discretionary and not used to fleece people.

There is after all, time, petrol and equipment to take into account. Not to mention the knowledge to remove them safely.

And an exterminator will charge a damn sight more to remove the bees than someone charging a nominal fee for time and expenses.

Do you declare your rewards from shooting and ferreting? For just as sure as taking a fee, you have been remunerated by the farmer for pest control.

 

[merylvingien]

As most bee keepers are hobbiests then yes its aimed at them If I was to do it as a living then I would expect fair reward if I get a phone call from a local farmer telling me that he has a fox bothering his stock I go and shoot the fox I do not expect payment for it as I get a little ferreting and pigeon shooting in return Fell rescue and lifeboat work I did as its the RIGHT thing to do
People should get their priorities right no go around charging little old ladies who can least afford outrageous charges charged by some and how many people declare these earnings to the tax man??

Hey hold your horses there a moment fella. Your making out that folk like myself are ripping off old ladies. Well i can tell you for FACT that i do no such thing.
I am in business to make a living, and a living i will damn well make.
Just because my living happens to be something that is attached to your hobby, doesnt give you the right to slag me off over it.
If you want to chase about all over the place for free, be my guest, your obviously making far to much money.

 

[hedgerow pete]

christ, i started some thing here, sorry admin!

many points to go through

i still standby the fact that bumbles are non protected, and as such if needed there dead.

i go along totaly with merylvingien about how much and what he does, been there done it got the t shirt and helped write the book, £80 is nothing, some of the firms in brum charge nearer £120 to kill off. a living is a living and he is just making a fair days money.

people still keep waving the majical question and answers about when dealing with people on the phone, i have been doing swarm collecting for on and off 25 years, i know the questions and what the answers should be, but does anyone here speak, urdo, polish, russian,indian, hungarian. black country, because i dont and as such it gets very hard to just even ask for a post code.

as for internet based answers, it wont work were i live some people cant even afford clothes let alone computers.

all the usual stock answers have come out with swarm collecting and calls and that was fine when i lived at shipston because it was a white british area with people who spoke english as a first language, it dont work when your speaking to a yam yam let alone someone fron seria leone.

I seem to get the feeling that because the councils have cut back that general people are using "bee swarms" as an excuse to get the beek there to shift them on the cheap.

and last rant, someone here wrote 4 out of 5 swarms are bees or calls are bees or some thing involving the numbers 4 and 5 together,

in my reality i deal with this

monday 30th may 12 calls all bumble

tuesday 31st may 7 calls all bumble

wed 1st june 19 calls 17 bumble two wasps

thursday 2 nd 3 calls all bumble , one i visited and killed off

friday 3rd 6 calls all wasps

sat and sunday , did not answer phone on purpose

monday 6th june 11 calls all bubmle three i visited

tuesday 7th, 10 calls 8 bumble 2 wasps two were visited

wednesday 8th, 3 calls all bumbles

so where does the 4 and 5 come into it!!

i only do local calls but can still do 20 miles in anight on the way home from work to the house

 

[jimbeekeeper]

Simples answer is dont put your name on the swarm list

 

[MuswellMetro]

much dearer in the South

one north London council pays the local BKA swarm collector £85 per swarm removed if they refer a case to him and they also give him a Parking ticket waivers if he is ticked while collecting a swarm

 

[Lead-Legs]

Yam Yams

"but does anyone here speak, urdo, polish, russian,indian, hungarian. black country, because i dont"

Pete, as a local yam yam,. I find the Urdu, Punjabi and polish a breeze. It's those country bumkins I can't understand.

 

[hedgerow pete]

its bad enough with the locals trying to talk with a pork scratching in thier mouths, the pair of carrots i used to have to carry around killed me. lol

the sadest part is when i move to the smoke to live i picked up a east end acsent, i dont know which is worst?????????????

i must admit i do alter my fee depending on what and who i am dealing with. like i say a little oap with a bare house normal gets charged a cup of tea to fly spray a bumble bee nest and if they want to pay its a quid for the used can, if there is a 48" plasma in the front room its £25

 

[beeatshellards]

I never charge either to look, or remove honey or bumble bees, most people always offer, but if i decline they give me a donation to our beekeepers association which is gratefully taken. Most people cant tell the difference so its good to tell them at every opportunity

 

[fincaazul]

Am I right in thinking that poisoning these bees is illegal?
The above statement looks like a confession of guilt to me (bang to rights guv!).

since when??. they are not classed as endangered nor rare?

as for asking the right questions . belive me theres a lot to ask and answer before i leave the house to come to you.

the one that does cause massive arguments on the phone is when they call me, i point out that i have nothing to do with the council and as such i charge, most people think that because they got your number from the council you must be a council employee and as such every thiing is free. i have had people shouting there benifit numbers at me to prove they cant pay and i had a lady earlier this year try to set the dog on me even tho she knew very well that she was going to be charged £25.

What brought the question one was last night i went to someones house to look at the thousands of bees going in and out of the shed, i thought it was promising enough to go there.

when i did get there i found that she keeps sugar and flour stores in the shed and the bees were pinching the sugar!!

any way when i brought up the subject of money she went mental on me, threating to call the council trading standards etc etc etc, in the end she did atualy call the police!!

i sat in the car and waited for them to arrive, delt with them and went home, well concerned!!

and thats why i sort guidence from the sages about were we stand with charging to do nothing ?

me thinks i will start to consider the idea of panning the whole swarm collecting thing in as its starting to get a bit to far out of hand with the mad brummies i have to deal with

Living in birmingham tho' was born in Kent feel that we must stay calm and never put down to malice something that can be explained by ignorance. Educating these people is a wothwhile task even though it often falls on deaf ears. Often easier to walk away.

 

[Rock_Chick]

I was called out and yes they were Bumble bees,I had tried to explain this to him on the phone,but he still insisted I have a look,lucky he was only round the corner from me.So when I got there and confirmed they were indeed Bumble bees,he laughed at me and said
"I thought you were joking on the phone,I thought Bumble bees were a made up name that children use"
Priceless I turned around and left,shaking my head.

 

[nesshughes]

Can I ask some advice from those who remove bumble bee nests. I have just been approached by a very elderly neighbour asking if I have lost any bees as he has a nest in his compost bin. I told him they wouldn't be honey bees but I would have a look, and sure enough they are bumbles, which he would like removed. What is the best way to go about this, I can see some comb, do I just dig them out, and rehome them. Any advice would be appreciated as I would like to help them find a safe home. Thanks.

 

[Rock_Chick]

Can I ask some advice from those who remove bumble bee nests. I have just been approached by a very elderly neighbour asking if I have lost any bees as he has a nest in his compost bin. I told him they wouldn't be honey bees but I would have a look, and sure enough they are bumbles, which he would like removed. What is the best way to go about this, I can see some comb, do I just dig them out, and rehome them. Any advice would be appreciated as I would like to help them find a safe home. Thanks.

First thing is try and persuade them to leave them were they are,they will do no harm to anyone,And do they need to use the compost bin,I went to the same situation last year(I've got them this year in my compost)After a lot of persuading they found somewhere else to put there compost for the rest of the year. In the end the bees were happy and the nice lady who made me a cuppa was happy to have the bees when I told her, they the bees that would be pollinating her runner beans.

 

[viridens]

If your persuasion fails and they really must be moved, I have done it this way a few times:-

Find/make a new location. A far corner of the same garden is easiest if this is possible. I normally dig a shovel-sized hollow in a quiet & not too sunny corner of the garden. and place a a piece of board or plank on top.
They need to be able to get out. Although they can dig, when building a nest the queen uses an existing hole or crevice and is working from the outside in. I use a length of 3/4 inch plastic overflow pipe to make an entrance/exit tunnel to the hollow which won't collapse. A small plastic bottle with the bottom cut off or sliced in half will do the same job.

The nest itself will usually be fist sized or smaller in leaves or grass in the heap, and will probably only have a few dozen bees. Working at night when they are all at home I aim to get a shovel underneath ending up with a shovelfull including the nest. If you are moving the nest more than a short distance, empty this CAREFULLY into a bucket or whatever, or even better leave it on the shovel and enclose it in a carrier bag or bin liner. All this is much easier on a dry and calm night!

Transport the shovelfull to your new location try to position the nest itself close to the pipe as you put it into the depression. Don't worry if bees fly off into the night, they will either find the queen eventually or wander off.

I hope this helps. Good luck to you and to bumbles everywhere.

 

[Chris Luck]

Chris

 

[nesshughes]

Thanks for your help, I have managed to get it into a box-can't believe how small the actual nest is. I have seen that the queen is present and have now found it a spot undercover in a quiet corner of my garden, they are beautiful bees, some of the young are sooo tiny compared to the adults.

 

[viridens]

Goodonya!​

 

[Poly Hive]

Thanks Virdens, I have pondered over this often enough.

PH