Living with bees
Living with bees
So - how would you like to have a colony of honey bees determined to share your house with you? Munching their way through the timbers of your centuries old home?
-
14BradfordRoad
- Posts: 1671
- Joined: 8 Oct 2011 23:22
- Location: Somewhere over the rainbow..
Re: Living with bees
Bit of a problem by the looks of it Tim. Are you sure they are Honeybees?
If so I've had a very similar problem in the past on a site that I manage. Wooden structures
on buildings with handy cavities are too inviting for the occasional Bee colony to ignore.
A friend got in touch with a local Beekeeper 'Bob the Beeman' who visited a couple of times,
then with a small hive containing a new Queen. The younger bees left the nest for the newly introduced Queen in the hive, the new Queen is protected in the hive by a small meshed cage
to stop the older, more aggresive, worker bees from killing her. This process can take a few days.
The Beeman returned to remove the newly formed colony in the hive from the site, they
were donated to yet another local beekeeper. He was then reluctantly prepared to kill off the
remaining squaters who were determined to stay with the original queen bee in the wall
cavity but did so upon our request.
This is roughly how the process was explained to me as I am certainly no expert on Bees.
Beekeepers are quite fanatical and understand how this works, they are always reluctant to
kill off the diminishing numbers of Honeybees. You may find that a local BeeKeeper would help with this. Link expains: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2162.html
Honey bees are looked upon very differently from known pests such as wasps or hornets
but as you suggest can still inflict major damage to a building. How long have they been
nesting in your wall?.............Good luck with this Tim.
If so I've had a very similar problem in the past on a site that I manage. Wooden structures
on buildings with handy cavities are too inviting for the occasional Bee colony to ignore.
A friend got in touch with a local Beekeeper 'Bob the Beeman' who visited a couple of times,
then with a small hive containing a new Queen. The younger bees left the nest for the newly introduced Queen in the hive, the new Queen is protected in the hive by a small meshed cage
to stop the older, more aggresive, worker bees from killing her. This process can take a few days.
The Beeman returned to remove the newly formed colony in the hive from the site, they
were donated to yet another local beekeeper. He was then reluctantly prepared to kill off the
remaining squaters who were determined to stay with the original queen bee in the wall
cavity but did so upon our request.
This is roughly how the process was explained to me as I am certainly no expert on Bees.
Beekeepers are quite fanatical and understand how this works, they are always reluctant to
kill off the diminishing numbers of Honeybees. You may find that a local BeeKeeper would help with this. Link expains: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2162.html
Honey bees are looked upon very differently from known pests such as wasps or hornets
but as you suggest can still inflict major damage to a building. How long have they been
nesting in your wall?.............Good luck with this Tim.
Re: Living with bees
Fairly sure they are honey bees - and your "Bob the beeman" could be mine also - he advised a "bait hive", which is what I think you describe. Another bee keeper, who's just taken on a plot next to mine at Kent House Leisure Gardens, and deals with swarms in Lambeth and Bromley, has written to me with even more on what could be done.
It's not my house, by the way - not so many half timbered Elizabethan buildings in Silverdale when last checked by local historians - but belongs to some farming members of my extended family. They tried to get rid of them once, but they came back, so the problem has been going some years. I'd imagine they've tried most offered solutions, but as farmers, don't like the idea of killing off bees when they are well aware of how beneficial they are in the wider scheme of things.
And as I write, further bee keeping advice pops into my inbox from my "Bob the beekeeper". Watch this space for further news ...
It's not my house, by the way - not so many half timbered Elizabethan buildings in Silverdale when last checked by local historians - but belongs to some farming members of my extended family. They tried to get rid of them once, but they came back, so the problem has been going some years. I'd imagine they've tried most offered solutions, but as farmers, don't like the idea of killing off bees when they are well aware of how beneficial they are in the wider scheme of things.
And as I write, further bee keeping advice pops into my inbox from my "Bob the beekeeper". Watch this space for further news ...