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HELP - honeybee nest
stevew1975
Posts: 22
Hello
As you will see from the above I am a little concerned about this. I am more than happy to leave it completely alone but am a little anxious should anyone inadvertently disturb it and get stung (and should I then get "stung" with a liability claim!)
I could contact the Council pest control but would rather have the colony moved than destroyed - any ideas or contacts?
Given my concerns I would prefer to find a solution sooner rather than later.
Any advice gratefully received!
0
Posts
Many thanks Philippa. Had already tried a few searches then struck lucky after your posting.
A friendly beekeeper came along and to my surprise without any protection simply commenced shaking and scooping the bees into a purpose-built box/hive.
Less to my surprise however he then donned his full gear as apparently the bees were a little aggressive, he reckoned due to being hungry - so a good job we intervened, they may have stung passers by.
After about an hour all were safely gathered in, he has a new hive of bees and (so he reckoned) about 10,000 bees were rescued and have hopefully been taken somewhere where there is plenty of food.
We have tried to make our garden wildlife friendly but clearly failed to produce enough nectar plants for 10,000 bees.
Here is the link - http://www.bbka.org.uk/ there is even a postcode field to complete and hey presto the nearest keeper's contact details appear on screen!
Thanks again, and sorry to have taken up valuable time & space - just panicked a bit!
No, you haven't wasted anybody's time - it is important to flag up what to do. I caught a swarm a couple of weeks back (without doing a thing - they found my empty hive!), and it is a very lucky thing for a beekeeper if they have the housing for one (and many of them can knock up a hive quite quickly for such occasions!) A local beekeeper will benefit from your swarm, even if not the guy who took them away - he may not have room and pass them on, but someone will benefit. Your garden is neither here nor there in terms of producing nectar and pollen - the bees will travel a five kilometer radius, and there are successful beekeepers in the centres of cities. There are only about 300 commercial beekeepers in the UK - the rest are all enthusiastic amateurs, and yet the bees are responsible for so much of the pollination vital to our farmers. I did a hive inspection yesterday, and my new swarm are doing really well. The frames were full of a heavy, sticky stuff I didn't recognise from the activities of the bees I've had up until now. Can't imagine what it was.....