Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 As some of you will know I have the garage fitted out as a model workshop. Two days ago I went in there, just to get a model out, I noticed a couple of bumble bees in there. I didn't think too much about it. Yesterday I went in there - there must have been over 100 bumble bees flying around in there!! I quickly retreated - yes I am total coward were any sort of flying insect is concerned!! A quick investigation revealed that they are going in and out via a small space in the eaves - presumably there is a nest in the roof space. I called a couple of pest control outfits - apparently they are getting loads of calls about bumble bees - they are obviously this year's "thing". The earliest anyone can come is Friday - meanwhile a gentle buzzing noise emanates from the shed and it remains off limits! So watch out - or you could face a "bumble bee stops play" scenario like me! BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 31/05/2017 13:28:58 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giuseppe Saroli Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 I wont worry to much 2 years ago i had the same problem under my garage i was told i lucky i was!! As there are very shy and wont stink unless provoked whatever you do dont close the hole belive me in a few week you will nevr see them again Ps i belive there are also protected Lucky you an me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul grice Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Put the bbq on in the garge, with plenty of smoke. they will leave, with no harm to them or you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 If they are nesting in the roof space try and stop them entering the work space leaving an exit from the roof to the outside. Bumble bee numbers have seen a serious decline in recent years and they need any help they can get. They will only sting if provoked in like being squashed and unlike a wasp sting which realy hurts a bumble sting is much like a nettle. Once the young leave they will probably move on and you could seal the entrance to prevent further visits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 JD, nettle sting, right. You get a lump of bee stabbed into you, and if you look closely, the venom sac is on the surface pulsating as it shoves more pain in. I been done with more pain, adders hurt right good, but a big bumble bee is a fair pain generator. Leave well alone BEB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bran Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Ha, told you drones were a nuisance..................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Just make sure you don't get one in your bonnet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mowerman Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Think your self lucky they are not wasps or hornets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Cruelly ironic that Biggles tag is bee e bee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Every year I have a small bumble bee nest between the roof and the ceiling every year. Some how a few get through into my workshop. \they just want to get out so I open the window and off they go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Etheridge 1 Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 We have just had our house soffits ,fascia boards and gutters replaced. I was told by one of the installers that he had to remove a large empty wasp nest from the structure, but nether the less I had to give him some wasp killer so presumably there was also a live wasp nest?. The installer also said there was a live bees nest in the roof structure and that when he had finished the work they were still buzzing around. i climbed the scaffolding yesterday to do some painting and sure enough on one corner of the house there were bees milling around and further more they were still able to enter the roof structure. Should we kill bees,I don't think so? Edited By Mike Etheridge 1 on 31/05/2017 18:44:28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 No, don'y kill them. I called a pest control man the first time that they appeared and he said that they were harmless and not to have them killed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Many years ago I was told by a bee keeper to burn some flowers of sulphur to rid the shed of these pests. Some time ago I saw a queen wasp entering my shed and crawling into the roof area, no doubt to set up a nest. Moments later a thing about 3" long came out of the same hole. It had black/brown stripes like a hornet, unlike a Japanese hornet which is black/ yellow. I dropped everything I was doing and got out asap, swiftly followed by this creature which flew away and looked the size of a humming bird. I now set fire to a small tin of sulphur each winter in the shed since many queens have previously emerged in there in the spring. Not any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Fisher Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 As a former keeper of honey bees I was often called to deal with swarms many of which turned out to be bumble bee nests or wasp nests I can confirm that it is very unusual to be stung by a bumble bee. They need extreme provocation to generate the sting reflex and I still often pick up one which stayed out too late and became too chilled to be able to fly. After a few minutes in my hand they start to warm up and then fly away. I have never been stung while doing this, and only once by bumble bees when I was trying to move a nest which was in the way of a garage extension. In that case the nest fell apart in my hands and I must have trapped a bee which then stung. It was nowhere near as painful as that from either a wasp or honeybee. If you can arrange an escape route for any which get into your shed and close off the opening where they come inside it is perfectly safe to use the workshop. Bees invariably fly towards light and will find an open door or window. HTH. Malcolm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Etheridge 1 Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 OK peter I will not kill the bees as I think our installer left a gap in the new UPVC structure so the bees could still gain access. I think Everest must have a strategy for dealing with bees? We did have a swarm of Honey Bees settle in our neighbour's front garden a year or two ago. I did phone up a bee keeper I knew and he sent round to us a couple who were also bee keepers but by the time they arrived the bees had taken off apart from a small number on the front lawn. Eventually a queen bee was prised from the small bunch and the keepers were quite happy as the queen was worth about £35. As soon as the keepers left , the swarm returned to the same spot in the front garden, and by this time my neighbour had returned home and had invited another keeper over who successfully captured the 5000 or so bees. The following morning another small swarm of bees landed in the same front garden so I alerted my friend who agreed to come round. However I made a closer inspection of the bees that then objected to my presence and promptly chased me up my driveway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 BEB could sing this to help his bees. I had a bad experience with my dads' bees when I was a nipper. They were bad tempered bees and chased me into the house and kept going at me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eflightray Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 I only had one visitor, probably a wood wasp. But one of the neatest builder I have come across. Now if only they could be trained ..... Ray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iqon Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Thats your B test sorted..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy48 Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 In summary BEB now gets a real buzz every time he goes in his workshop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 We invariably get some variety of bee or wasp or hornet every year, part of the joys of countryside living. Hornets (the normal big brown ones, I've never seen the asian hornets) and yellowjacket wasps get powder on their entrance, if their entrance is located such that they fly straight into our garden space. They're only a problem late summer or autumn when the queens start leaving. Otherwise I leave them alone, as they eat small pests. Bumblebees, leave em alone, they're harmless, and by midsummer or thereabouts they seem to go. If its honey bees, phone a beekeeper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted June 1, 2017 Author Share Posted June 1, 2017 Nigel - I'd love to leave them alone! But I can't use my workshop at the moment due to them - and that means no flying! Now I love nature as much as the next man, and mean them no harm, but I can't go all summer with no flying! I have "a man" arriving soon, hopefully he will find a solution that saves them and restores my flying!! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan M Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 On the other hand... they were flying long before us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 A good few years ago my wife had the beginnings of a wasp nest in her garden shed (I do zero gardening - I married a market gardener's daughter!). It was a beautiful, delicate, paper-like structure and it was a shame to remove it but, of course, we did. The queen wasp who'd built it went berserk when she returned and tried to find her newly built palace but eventually left to get planning permission elsewhere. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 how about one of these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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