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Just noticed some (one repeatedly, or many) bees flying into a small hole between a wall and the cap stone. The bees are each carrying a small bit of green leaf.At the moment there is only a very small number, I'm seeing maybe one a minute or so.
How worried should I be, and what's best way to deal with it?
Maybe Mason bees....no problems at all. Our garden is literally heaving with all sorts of bees at this time of year. We try to attract them in.Leave them alone and they'll leave you alone.
Bumble or Honey?
Having watched a bit more, looks like a lone bee. Disappears off, comes back a few minutes later with a bit of leaf. Pops in the hole for a minute or two, reapers and begins all over again. Looks like some sort of nest building going on.
Current thought is to wait till he's out, and plug up the hole. Or would it be better to try and trap him?
If you're worried then call your council to ask if they have a pest control service. Lancaster City Council sent a man to look at the bees we had and he explained that they are harmless and will move on in a couple of weeks. The council also fixed a wasps nest in the loft. I think it cost about £50 to get rid of the wasps and when it was bees it didn't cost anything.
Don't kill him or we'll all die.
So does the fact he/she is collecting bits of leaf indicate its one type of bee or another? Like i say, looks like only one of them at the moment, but not sure I fancy hundreds in my walls.
One of these?
It may be a Solitary bee finding a nesting spot.They lay an egg,pack it with food then seal it up. We had some in our graden a couple of years ago .
http://thesolitarybeeproject.org/
I have a masonry bee nest at the end of the garden. I think it's only a small nest and you don't notice it until you're a few feet away. They quietly go about their business.
not sure I fancy hundreds in my walls.
Free insulation and a relaxing low level background buzz. What’s not to like? I’d just leave it alone
Leafcutter looks favourite at the moment. I've stood the flame thrower down for time being. Will keep an eye on how it progresses.
I've got 3 active bumble bee nests in the roof just under the eaves at the moment. I did a bit of reading and apparently they wont/dont cause any damage, they're not beeing a pain to us, so I'm just going to leave them bee
Get a camera and make a BEE movie
Bees are cool, it is only wasps who are arseholes who should be destroyed with fire.*
* happy to be corrected if wasps are now considered important to the planet, rather than vicious, bitter scum of the earth.
I've been painting the barge boards of my house. White-tailed bumble bee nest at one end and a wasp nest about a metre further along. The wasps didn't bother either me or the bees; the bees on the other hand went into attack mode frequently because of larger bees invading their nest.
Happily they didn't attack by stinging, they drop on attackers and force them down and away (and into my paint on one occasion). They had a few goes at me while defending the nest, but no stings; there were only five defenders, but they can easily outdo a person. The wasps were totally chilled throughout, which is just as well when you're 17' up a scaffold tower
If it's a leafcutter it's probably solitary so you're not about to be overun.
* happy to be corrected if wasps are now considered important to the planet, rather than vicious, bitter scum of the earth.
Early on they're useful predators of pests in the garden and elsewhere. Late in the season they're just assholes.
I stayed with a pest control guy recently. He moved some bumble bees from someones garden to his own garden and charged the folk £90. Seems a reasonable tax on the stupid.
Current thought is to wait till he’s out, and plug up the hole. Or would it be better to try and trap him?
Why on Earth would you want to do that? They’re harmless to humans, and they’re only really taking advantage of small holes that are in the mortar; they won’t go building a nest inside the cavity. I’ve got a couple of old sheds, one has a rather ragged bottom to the door where it touches the ground as it’s sagged, and bumble bees have a nest inside somewhere. If I get tools out and leave the door open, they get very confused and fly around trying to find their little hole to access their nest! Rather sweet, really.
Fine, I'll say it.
Leaf it bee.
Hive.wasps nest. The gits.
🙂