Honey Bee Removal

[Alias218]

Hi all. I have an old potting shed-come-bar in my garden that I am intending on repurposing as a bbq shack affair. This will require its disassembly and so on. The problem is, there seems to be numerous honey bees buzzing around at ground level and I suspect a queen may have taken up residence fairly recently.

I suspect the nest is quite small at the moment but I won’t know until I take the thing apart and lift the floor. I’m in a bit of a bind as to what to do about it. They can’t stay but I don’t want them harmed!

Does anyone have experience of humanely removing them? I don’t want to kill them, but a professional outfit looks to be rather expensive. I’d like them to be relocated, ideally.

Bloody typical they move in just as I’m about to tear the structure down!

[Silvanus]

Are you sure it's honey bees and not something like miner bees. They are very active this time of the year my lawn is full of them.

[smifffymoto]

Alias218 said:

Hi all. I have an old potting shed-come-bar in my garden that I am intending on repurposing as a bbq shack affair. This will require its disassembly and so on. The problem is, there seems to be numerous honey bees buzzing around at ground level and I suspect a queen may have taken up residence fairly recently.

I suspect the nest is quite small at the moment but I won’t know until I take the thing apart and lift the floor. I’m in a bit of a bind as to what to do about it. They can’t stay but I don’t want them harmed!

Does anyone have experience of humanely removing them? I don’t want to kill them, but a professional outfit looks to be rather expensive. I’d like them to be relocated, ideally.

Bloody typical they move in just as I’m about to tear the structure down!

Get in touch with a local bee keeper,they will usually remove them for free but only if they are honey bees.

[OutInTheShed]

If they are bona fide honey bees, then a beekeeper will take them away for free.
https://www.bbka.org.uk/pages/category/swarm-remov...
They may be a bit bonkers, bur they mean well IMHO.

[Jaska]

Silvanus said:

Are you sure it's honey bees and not something like miner bees. They are very active this time of the year my lawn is full of them.

This, almost definitely be miner bees, some lived under my shed for one summer and they were super active until suddenly one day they were gone - and when I demolished it a couple of years later you'd have had no idea they were ever there

[Alias218]

They’re hanging out in a gang and from what I understand miner bees are solitary. I can’t say I know enough about bees to distinguish them but they look to be about the right size for honey bees.

Looking at pictures of honey and miner bees you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference if you didn’t know!

[Alias218]

OutInTheShed said:

If they are bona fide honey bees, then a beekeeper will take them away for free.
https://www.bbka.org.uk/pages/category/swarm-remov...
They may be a bit bonkers, bur they mean well IMHO.

Thanks for the link. Had a little look and you all may be right - though solitary they can nest close together in large numbers.

Apparently they don’t hang around for more than a few weeks so perhaps I’ll leave them be for a bit and come back in May and see how my little guests are doing.

[LooneyTunes]

OutInTheShed said:

If they are bona fide honey bees, then a beekeeper will take them away for free.
https://www.bbka.org.uk/pages/category/swarm-remov...
They may be a bit bonkers, bur they mean well IMHO.

The bees or the beekeepers? A proper swarm of honey bees is worth good money to someone wanting to expand the number of hives they have, so collecting them is not entirely altruistic.

Weather hasn’t been great this year so would be surprised if there had been much swarming activity (which is what you’d need for a queen to have recently taken up residence). A swarm is thousands of bees, quite a sight (and sound) especially when in flight.

[Alias218]

I think that on measure it probably isn’t honey bees then! There certainly aren’t 1,000s, maybe a dozen flying around above ground. They seem quite friendly, and they don’t sting which is good as I have two cats and one has a penchant for catching bees.

[Silvanus]

Alias218 said:

They’re hanging out in a gang and from what I understand miner bees are solitary. I can’t say I know enough about bees to distinguish them but they look to be about the right size for honey bees.

Looking at pictures of honey and miner bees you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference if you didn’t know!

Solitary as in they don't form a hive/communal nest. They will often be found in close proximity to one another as they will be drawn to certain conditions. They often appear to be swarming. You sometimes find small areas, with the right conditions, where hundreds will be forming their chambers.

If you still strongly suspect honey bees, get in touch with a local keeper, they will collect the queen.

[Simpo Two]

Alias218 said:

Looking at pictures of honey and miner bees you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference if you didn’t know!

Miner bees have tin hats and dirty faces and sound like Fred Dibnah.

[Wiccan of Darkness]

Simpo Two said:

Miner bees have tin hats and dirty faces and sound like Fred Dibnah.

Alias218 said:

They’re hanging out in a gang

Sounds like a picket line. Is the union demanding shorter flowers and more honey?

[LooneyTunes]

Alias218 said:

I think that on measure it probably isn’t honey bees then! There certainly aren’t 1,000s, maybe a dozen flying around above ground. They seem quite friendly, and they don’t sting which is good as I have two cats and one has a penchant for catching bees.

If they’ve settled down you won’t see thousands (you only get that when there’s a swarm, which is really how colonies reproduce). Over the weekend there were decent numbers outside the hives queuing to get back in but probably hundred-ish.

Honey bees very rarely sting. I typically only get stung a couple of times each year, usually by being a bit careless. Can only remember one unprovoked attack, and that was someone else’s bee.

[Alias218]

Wiccan of Darkness said:

Simpo Two said:

Miner bees have tin hats and dirty faces and sound like Fred Dibnah.

Alias218 said:

They’re hanging out in a gang

Sounds like a picket line. Is the union demanding shorter flowers and more honey?

Now you mention it, I did hear a few of them call me a scab which I thought was weird. Makes sense now.

That’s right, I’m scabbing for the bees. Honey doesn’t make itself, you know

[JerseyRoyal]

Wiccan of Darkness said:

Simpo Two said:

Miner bees have tin hats and dirty faces and sound like Fred Dibnah.

Alias218 said:

They’re hanging out in a gang

Sounds like a picket line. Is the union demanding shorter flowers and more honey?

[Alias218]

I managed to get a snap of my friendly trespassers. If anyone is a dab hand at identifying bees, please wade in and settle the miner / honeybee question:



To be honest, they look much of a muchness to me.

[Silvanus]

Looks to be a type of miner bee

[pocketspring]

Definitely not a honey bee. Is it only working three days a week?

[Alias218]

Silvanus said:

Looks to be a type of miner bee

Thanks - hopefully they move on when I start taking their home apart.

[hotchy]

Alias218 said:

Silvanus said:

Looks to be a type of miner bee

Thanks - hopefully they move on when I start taking their home apart.

I get them every year on my patio. They'll vanish in about 4 weeks anyway.