Came home today to find this in a tree in the garden.

Can anybody say for sure if they are bees or wasps?

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmz_8lALlnc[/video]

Dont want to kill them if they are wasps, is there a non lethal way of removal? Bees can be re homed im told.

Look up your local bee keeping society and someone will come and get them- possibly even tonight as evenings are the best time to do it.

It’s not a nest as such- a colony somewhere nearby has outgrown its hive- the queen leaves and takes haft her gang with her. They’re waiting there will they try to find somewhere new to live.

They should t cause you any bother- before they swarm like that they eat as much honey as they can to take with them – makes them pretty drowsy. Their only real interest is staying close to the queen, they’ll stay huddled up like that while scouts go looking for a new home.

That looks like a swarm of bees. They’ll probably disappear in the next day or so as that looks quite exposed. They are looking for a new home – phone your local beekeeping association who will be happy to come and take them away. BTW they aren’t particularly aggressive when swarming so be sensible and you’ll be fine. D’oh – beaten to it while I was typing! If I was close by I’d come and get them myself!

The only way to be sure is to lick them.

We had a swarm like that last year. Local beekeeper came and got them in return for some petrol money.

Very unlikely that they will hang around for more than a day or so before moving on.
We have just had our second swarm of the year, they moved on this morning.

The only way to be sure is to lick them.

Tried that with ours, Jamie. Was a bit tangy and I am still none the wiser.

It tastes hurty

Thanks, messaged & sent the video and called reading and district bee keepers.

No reply yet.

They are not bothering anybody and the cats have not not noticed them so we have no issues

Never ever go near them with a drill the noise seems to annoy them and they swarm after you, had a very near miss last year with a wasps nest, while fitting a door.

Dont believe me try it and see, expect to get stung i was, it hurts.

Dont believe me try it and see

Please don’t believe him OP. And film it.

worth 250 quids on “youve been framed”

Most probably bees. Still early for wasps.

We have bumble bees under our shed, and very happy to have them we are. 🙂

I have bees living in the wall cavity.

Dont believe me try it and see
Please don’t believe him OP. And film it

As a vegan I can’t lick them, but as my six year old son needs to decide for himself what goes in his mouth (food) and loves being filmed doing dumb things he s an option

Great way to find out if he is allergic to wasp and / or bee stings at the same time.

As a vegan I can’t lick them

Vegans can lick raw animals, right?

As a vegan I can’t lick them
Vegans can lick raw animals, right?

Not if they have honey on them

They are being collected later today, happy ending for all.

Blimey, beekeeper offers that service too?!

That’s what he wanted in return for collection.

Wife’s away so I’d better get the Marigolds out

Wasps don’t swarm like that. They’ll only form a cloud of death if you bung up the door to their house while they’re out.

Despite their reputation, wasps are actually really useful as they munch on all sorts of decaying junk. Their nests are amazing as well.
Still, didn’t stop me getting someone round to be perform a waspectomy on our house this morning. Apparently they’re nearing super early this year, the guy said his first removal was at the start of April.

All of which is actually irrelevant, due to the fact what you’ve got there is bees, and they’re lovely and not to be killed.

They’re bees. You can see some of them doing their waggle dance.

Plus, they’re bee-coloured.

Bees 🙂

I’ve got a bees nest this year in our cavity wall too. They are no problem at all and have not bothered us in the slightest….

Wasps on the other hand….

Mr bee keeper said there were around 30000 of them. Not sure if its a size thing like how big a fish has been caught.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/VnVZKt]Wasp[/url] by Alpine160, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/VnVYtR]Wasp[/url] by Alpine160, on Flickr

A friend of mine is a beekeeper; his van has never been broken into, probably owing to the prominent “Warning – live bees in transit” sticker.

Which is odd, because it’s a Transporter.