Timbo33

I think I've got bees nesting in the soffit of my roof - the bit under the gutter.

There is quite a big gap beteen the sofit board and the wall and i see quite a few bees flying in and out as it's right outside my window.

Does anyone know whether this will do any damage? I seem to remember in the dark depths of my memory that bees don't re-use their hives like wasps do?

Timbo

http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/Sounds/Doh.wav


[Edited by Timbo33 - 5/23/2002 7:53:56 AM]

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

I had bees in my loft a few years back. Only symptom was a loft full of dead bees. They never came back to nest.

You should be okay. Your local council should be able to advise

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

Just make sure they are not wasps

DocJock

Call the Council
(Environmental Health)

They will send a beekeeper round to deal with it. It is an offence for you to kill the little buggers yourself believe it or not.....

RichB

Give the guy with the yellow bee eating spider in his garden a shout!

Reffro

Agree with the above. Check if its Bees and not Wasps. Either way call your local environmetal health officers, they will come and sort it all out for you. They'll take them away if they are bees or they will kill the nest if they are wasps. Don't attempt a DIY removal if its the latter, wasps are not to messed with.

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I wouldn't want to mess with bees either! We used to keep hives at the end of our garden and one of them swarmed once scarey as hell

Squizz

One whole Bee? Blimey...

orbv

just tell them to buzz off

Am I sick or just mad!

Have you thought about trying Winne the Pooh? As he likes Hunny and might be able due to his thick fur, nick their hive and not get stung by them.


Or maybe try and see if there is a travelling Russian circus near you? As they usually have trained Bears and so might help you out for free, you never know you might get some free tickets for the big top in exchange for the Hunny!

Mark

uncle buck

I saw a bee hive swarm once as well pretty amazing, they all settled in a tree in a huge ball eventually. When we came back to look again they had vanished without trace

Don't go into your attic to investigate. I saw a thing on telly once where a guy went into his attic with his dog and it disturbed a bees nest and they both got viciously attacked. There was no escape in the confined space and both got horribly stung

Get the professionals.

carl

That was 'The Swarm'

MarkJackon

Can of Lynx and a *** lighter, woooooooooof

Got rid of a whole wasps nest with that method, cost £26.50 in Lynx though.

uncle buck

Carl

lol

- it was something like that '999' programme -

Steve Howat

[anorak on]

My old chaps a beekeeper and often gets called out to these things. I think it is most likely that you have wasps in your loft as bees tend to nest inside wall cavities or trees (or hives), not build their own nest in a roof space. The council will send out a beekeeper or a pest controller to sort it out.

As for swarms of bees they look scary but are no danger, they're too busy following their new queen to worry about an onlooking human. And they usually only swarm in may or june because that's when the weather (should) get hot and humid. If it is a swarm up there they'll probably bu99er off on their own in a short space of time.

Hope this helps!

Steve

Timbo33

To those of you who responded to my plea with consideration and sensitivity, a big thank you. I kind of thought they will probably go away in the winter but I just wanted a bit of reassurance.

Steve,

No, they're definitely bees....and they're not actually in the roof they're going up into the soffit under the eaves so maybe they are nesting in the wall cavity or just in the space enclosed by the soffit....


Mark,

Thanks for the pyrotechnics help but I suspect the local environmental health people will apply a slightly less radical solution

To those of you who took the opportunity for a cheap sarcastic shot...



'Am I sick.....'.....(I suspect that you are another well known poster living not too far away from me and hiding behind a pseudonym)......I hate to dispell long cherished beliefs but Winnie the Pooh is actually a cartoon character created by A.A.Milne...




[Edited by Timbo33 - 5/23/2002 1:26:27 PM]

Brendan Hughes

Similar - Dad's kept bees for 35 years.

Get a pro. It all depends on what it is.

If honey bees, unlikely to be a nest, more likely to be a swarm, and they will follow the queen until they find a new place. A new swarm is not so dangerous as it will be stuffed full of honey that they will put in their new hive (depends on time of year - more honey at end of summer than at end of winter). Dad's metaphor is "a guy who's just had a big meal doesn't want a fight".

If masonary bees, they probably will make a nest, and do some damage, but I honestly have no idea how much.

If wasps, they deserve to be poisoned and torched off the face of the earth. Er, IMHO

One warning: bees smell a bee sting and it makes them more defensive, ie aggressive. If you are stung once near the nest, you can expect more coming your way. Scrape the sting out backwards with a sharp knife, don't squeeze the poison sac trying to pick it out.

Have fun honey

BJH

MarkO

How can you talk about torching poor defenseless bees. Surely you can find a better past-time than unnecessarily killing these innocent insects which will clearly suffer pain and distress.

Ooops, sorry - wrong thread.

Timbo33

Brendan,

"If they are Masonry bees they might do some damage.....".errr what kind of damage?

I wasn't really going to bother getting anyone out but if it's going to cause problems perhaps i ought to give the council a ring.....

Brendan Hughes

Timbo - as I said, I honestly don't have a clue!!

I believe masonary bees bore holes in masonary. Funny, that. I don't know how many holes, their size, the time it takes to do it (days or years)... hence my frustratingly simplistic statement. Sorry!

Steve Howat

Masonary bees are solitary, or only very small numbers (2 or 3). Sounds like a swarm that has found a nice place to nest. If they are dug in and you want them left alive, leave them alone cos demolition would be required to get rid and they probably wouldn't harm you anyway (unlike wasps who are anyones for a fight ). Otherwise your local friendly beekeeper will destroy them (with a poison of some sort) for the cost of petrol.

Steve.

carl

Why is it illegal for someone like me to destroy bees, but legal for the beekeeper to do it? I thought if you called a beekeeper they would come and collect the bees for their own use somehow (hence the 'keeper' bit of 'beekeeper').

Makes me wonder what zookeepers are up to

MarkehB

lmao@ carl

Timbo33

Yeah LOL at Carl....

Seriously tho' I've only noticed a few bees at a time, never more than 2 or 3 at any one time, I just assumed they were never the same two or three!!

There are a number of different ones i've seen buzzing around, but they are like small bumble bees rather than the more elongated worker bees you normally see around....(David Attenborough, move over...) but there was one real WHOPPER of a bumble bee too (the queen?)

All this talkof holes being bored in bricks and needing to demolish walls is definitely starting to worry me...

STi go fast

if they are near your window could you reach then with a tennis racket or similar? if so then try killing a few as they come to the house- once you have got 5 or 6 the others will get scared and the queen will lead them to a safer home. this works i reckon.

SGF

Timbo33

Stig you are, as ever, really helpful......

.....haven't you got some packing to do? I'll bring you some hunny round later

Steve Howat

If the beekeeper can't get to them and they are a nuisance then they become a pest like wasps and have to be destroyed as it's the only way to get rid. I don't think it's illegal to destroy them under these circumstances. As for zookeepers.....

If there's only a few at a time they probably aren't doing any harm or damage so don't panic. I think that the masonary bees live in small holes in the mortar. Best time to check would be on a hot day (if we ever get any ) when the flowers are out. There should be quite a bit of activity if it is a swarm, if you look at a hive on this kind of day you'd see hundreds in and out all the time.

You don't normally see large groups (let alone a swarm) of bumble bees. They're normally solitary too.