As mentioned on the 'Do I believe it ?' thread over on the motoring discussion.
I've just been and squirted the best part of my aerosol can of wasp nest destroyer under my tiles. The bird that flew out nearly had me off the ladder! I glimpsed something wriggling under a tile, it's made me feel guilty as I've probably killed whatever was in the nest.
They are (were?) bees. Almost black and about 15mm long judging from the ones I've found on the ground. It seems strange to me that the birds and bees were living in close proximity, is it normal?
They were under the bottom tile at the gable end wall. There's no timber on my gable end and that tile's mortared down. I suppose I'll have to try and get it up and clear out whatever carnage I've created.
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MURDERER
You killed the Birds AND the bees! Why the desire to murder bees? live with them for a year then clear out the nest, Now your flowers wont get pollinated.
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>>MURDERER
Hangs head in shame.
I couldn't make out what they were until I'd killed some and I certainly wasn't going to hang around at the top of a ladder trying to identify the beasties. I had no idea there was a birds nest in there as well.
I certainly didn't want a wasps nest up there. Would bees cause any damage - I'm thinking of a honey stain on the ceiling?
Please don't let on to BBD I killed the birds and the bees!
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We had bees living under the roof inside the gable woodwork a few years ago. A swarm suddenly arrived from nowhere, and after about an hour they had all settled in. Throughout the summer there was a comforting hum of bees coming and going, and of course lots of pollination of fruit, flowers and veg.
They were still there the next few years - or do they die and another colony succeed? - but then seemed to have gone for good. Until this year, perhaps. I have seen the odd bee out prospecting, if that's what they do, looking for a good potential home.
I'll always give a home to bees, bats, birds, cats, spiders, woodlice, but draw the line at wasps, rats, ants and dogs. It's illogical I suppose, they are all God's creatures, they say.
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www.property-bee.com/
....and this is the website they use !
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Your local Beekeepers Association has a series of members who are only too willing to collect swarms of honeybees for free- assuming no building demolition is required.
Killng bees in a roof void is bad practice as any honey and wax left decays and attracts wasps and vermin and - if a lot - will eventually melt in hot weather and drip though the ceiling...
Last edited by: madf on Tue 17 May 11 at 13:29
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'comforting hum'
hmmmm (sorry)
With the numbers we get around here it's a very loud, persistent and irritating buzz that is nearly, but not quite, as bad as wasps. Hornets actually make a nicer noise and they are attractive creatures - but you'd best not have them around either.
I rather suspect that people who have a lot to say about this subject have never had to deal with a serious bee problem. Having them under a corner of the tiles is one thing but when they start flying down the chimney and filling the house it gets to be a bit of a pain...
Or maybe it's just my 'it's us against them' mentality showing itself yet again?
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>> Hornets actually make a nicer
>> noise and they are attractive creatures - but you'd best not have them around either.
Hornets are the fighter bomber of insects - wonderful noise, and they generally leave you alone unless provoked. Formidable jaws though, I've seen one dissect the carcass of a dragonfly in less than a minute while it was still alive. Don't ask me how it caught it in the first place.
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>>Your local Beekeepers Association has a series of members who are only too willing to collect swarms of honeybees
Tried that. Two weren't interested and the third told me, erroneously, the council would deal with it for free.
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I'd sooner have bees in the roof than bats in the belfry!
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You'd have to slither a long way up the wall to notice either.
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We've got a few bats. They're no problem. I'm quite fond of them.
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I've just cut the grass and noticed bees flying in and out from under my shed.
They can stay there!
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Every spring I am reminded by the bees attacking the lime mortar pointing on our old house to do something about it, but by the time they are making their homes there it's too late.
I suppose one year the wall will eventually fall down. Then I will be cross!
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Bees in the roof - Zero
