Solving Omlet Smart Auto Door Timing Issues with Alexa Routines

[Kalu]

Morning,

 

I am wondering if any bee keepers can help, I have a bird box full of s. Unfortunately the bird box is very close to the and the needs a good cleaning out! I also have a 7 year old who wants to go out in the garden in this lovely weather but the bees seem to be everywhere at the moment. It is only a small bird box but there are about 20 bees flying around outside it with more sitting on the front of it and in the evening i can hear the box buzzing.

 

I certainly don't want the bees killed and i suspect a honey bee keeper won't want them - does anyone have any ideas of who to contact to move the box (i am too scared!)

 

many thanks,

[newcountrygirl]

If there are so many - it could be that a local hive has swarmed and nested in the birdbox. If it is only a small box there wont be a full swarm in there. You could try moving it or contacting a local beekeeper and ask if they could remove it for you. Most are friendly and will help out.

[Olly]

The most likely answer is that they are bumble bees. They like to nest in bird boxes because they are all ready with a handy nest, and just the right size. It's unlikely to be a swarm of honey bees, as a bird box wouldn't usually be big enough. Can you see what sort of bees they are?

 

Bumble bees are generally very unlikely to sting, and in about six weeks they will have finished their business and departed. They won't be bothered by you cleaning the Eglu. You'll probably notice more activity in the early morning, and early evening, and less during the rest of the day but they will be active on a sunny day like today. Is there a ring of bees clustered round the entrance hole? They will be the male bees, who are usually booted out as they do no work!

 

If you really want to get rid of them, you could try finding someone local who will close up the hole at night and remove the bird box to somewhere else. Your local beekeeping group may be able to help, even though as you rightly say the bees won't be of interest to them. I'd suggest you just leave it, to be honest - they may look scary but they are very unlikely to bother you.

 

A friend of mine does bee/wasp destruction and collects swarms - every year he gets calls to deal with bumbles in a bird-box, and every year I get a box of bees for my garden. Last year's bumble colony has now been occupied by a family of blue-tits!

[Cinnamon]

This is the first time in 5 years that our main bird box actually has birds in it & not bees!

[gongladosh]

If they're big and furry, they'll be bumbles.

 

Bumblebee nests tend to be small (we're not talking thousands of bees!) and they'll go soon enough.

 

[Kalu]

Hello,

Whilst browsing Omlet this evening I came across this old post. A little update....the bees lived out the summer in the bird box. When autumn arrived and they had clearly moved on, I moved the bird box to a far corner of the garden away from child and chooks. It is still there and the bees are welcome to return this summer, or the blue tits could give it a try.

Thanks for all your comments, and Olly thanks for your message.

K

[Valkyrie]

Yep, we had them this year, they are bumble bees - tree bumble bees aka The New Garden Bumble Bee. First spotted in Hampshire in 2006 I think it was. They were with us for a couple of months and then disappeared and the nest broke down. We originally put the diamond wren box up to make a safer place for them to nest rather than our hanging baskets. But we got bees instead. They are quite aggressive unless you look at them late in the day. There were always 2 sentries until they felt threatened and my goodness did they all come out! They got used to us in the end but we had to duck down near the box. I did take photos with my old phone but they are a bit blurry. From a safe distance! And then when they were sleepy I got a bit closer.

I prefer the old bumble bees. They are happy for me to watch them up close and personal.

[Valkyrie]

Apparently they've been around since 2001 in the country - first sighting in Wiltshire (according to Wicki so that may or may not be correct) but it certainly seems that they have been around for over 10 years now.