Left a hole open in the wall start of the year when i had some building work done and totally forgot to block it up. Now have noticed a couple of bees nipping in and out. I have them in the loft too, but leave them alone up there. This is a bit more pressing though as i want to block the hole up to keep the other creepy crawlies out.

Waited for a few to leave yesterday, then filled the hole with a teatowel to see what happened. End result is about 10 bees outside buzzing about very confused and ive had quite a few crawl up into the house today through gaps around the window (sill is off to fit new ones)

i know they should be left to it and they dont bother me but I want to plug the hole up. How long will they be buzzing around for and with the hole blocked up will the bees inside die off? And will any eggs laid hatch next spring?

Let them bee.

Waited for a few to leave yesterday, then filled the hole with a teatowel to see what happened. End result is about 10 bees outside buzzing about very confused and ive had quite a few crawl up into the house today through gaps around the window (sill is off to fit new ones)

no shit, all their young are behind the tea towel they are going to be confused and stressed.

stupid **** edit option is ****, remove the tea towel and plug the holes in the autumn.

My understanding was that they are a. Quite solitary, and b. Lay eggs to hatch next year. So my assumption was they wouldnt have laid those eggs yet so wouldnt have young? I wasnt expecting to see so many tbh.

leave them be and be grateful to have them

There was an item on Springwatch about them – was a fascinating watch. Apparently they’re solitary in nature, don’t sting/swarm and aren’t overtly aggressive. Fantastic pollinators too, we need to look after these imho…

I know, as I said I want to leave them bee it’s just a pain cos I want to fill these mortar holes up around the plumbing pipes before I get issues. Never caused me an issue until I tried to sort it, just one or two flying in and out every so often, and now I’ve got loads of them around.

Theyre back in anyway, I felt too guilty for them so I’ve removed the towel. To be fair, I went to do it and it was fascinating watching them trying to get back in. Proper teamwork. There’s at least 30 of them under my kitchen windowsill now though, I thought just one or 2.

When/ifyou repair the mortar, leave them a small hole. You’ll miss them next year!

They won’t do you ,or your home ,any harm.

Might be an idea to put a small piece of pipe into the hole, pointing down slightly, so the bees can enter and exit, but they would be more protected from other insect predators and weather, then the rest of the hole can be mortared up, maybe a piece of narrow hosepipe or similar. You can create bumblebee nests like that, a length of hose buried in a ‘U’ shape, with drain holes in the bottom of the ‘U’, and one end under an old flowerpot with wood shavings and dried grass inside for them to nest in.

Ask your local bee keeper would be the most sensible route..

We’ve got some too. Been around the last couple of years of years. They land on the kitchen windowsill and crawl into the cavity somewhere.

They never bother us, so I just leave them be, ( or leave them bee! ) One thing I’ve noticed other than the trail of pollen, is what looks like small balls of mortar on the windowsill though. It’s in such small amounts I don’t really worry about it.