Thread: Being Mugged by Bees

Do you know, we've recently moved to a new house - and the exact same thing happened about 2 weeks ago.... Was convinced we had a hive in one corner of the roof, but had a look a few days later and nothing. (was hoping they'd sting the possums out of the roof actually )

Bees are a colony insect - to multiply they have to divide, if you get my drift. A swarm is the majority of a hive setting out to find a new home with the old queen, leaving a new queen to rebuild.

I'm guessing there's a hive nearby, and your house is a staging post until they settle on a new location. What the mechanism is whereby they remember your house I have no idea. Worker bees have a short life, as little as 6 weeks, so they can't remember unless they pass the info on somehow. Presumably its the old queen coming back.

Regards
Max P

We have this problem every year - around this time too. They are obviously looking for a new home. They swarm around the window edges where there is a small gap between the brick & window.

We find the best way to get rid of them is to soak a rag in surface spray and push the rag into the small gap where the bees are entering.

We also spray surface spray and normal fly spray around the area - this seems to move them along & get them looking for another place to find their home.

Our neighbours had a swarm actually build their hive in between the brickwork & plaster board . Inside their house they could even smell the honey the bees were producing. Also, the bees attacked visitors - especially if they had recently washed their hair (for some reason - maybe the smell of the shampoo annoyed them???) The neighbours ended up having to rip out the plaster board to get rid of the massive hive the bees had built in the wall cavity.

My advice to you would be to spray them sooner than later. They will find another place to build their hive.

Good luck, Erich

Just re-read your notes...are you sure they are normal honey bees...?

The only reason I ask is we also get Teddy Bear Bees come in for a few weeks each year. They don't swarm but usually find a home in a crevice in the ground - in our case in my shed where there is a little gap in the concrete on the floor.

They are quite large and sort of clumsy. They only stay for two or three weeks and then head off somewhere else.

I don't mind the Teddy Bear Bees visiting as they are not aggressive at all.

Erich

We have just started keeping bees, so I am on a huge learning curve. I would tend to go with Tuskers thoughts but it's the first time I have heard of this occuring on such a regular basis. You obviously have a very appealing house .

Originally Posted by Tusker

Bees are a colony insect - to multiply they have to divide, if you get my drift. A swarm is the majority of a hive setting out to find a new home with the old queen, leaving a new queen to rebuild.

I'm guessing there's a hive nearby, and your house is a staging post until they settle on a new location.

Regards
Max P

Thanks - but they do not stay overnight - do not arrive if it is overcast and when sunny arrive early afternoon and then depart before dark.

Garry,

When bees swarm, they exit the hive in tens of thousands and generally fly a short distance where they hang about in a soccer ball sort of sized cluster. While the bulk hang about, scouts scurry off and look for a nice cozy spot. When they find it, off go the lot, and move in.

If it is into your cavity, no beekeeper in creation can get them out. I do not recommend use of any petrol, spray or similar home remedies, for a few reasons.

If they set up in your cavity, which can be evidenced by bees coming in loaded with pollen on their hairy little legs, and going out with clean legs, give a licensed pest exterminator a call, and they will kill the colony with the most environmentally friendly and least persistent poison possible. This will then allow other little creatures such as ants and waxmoths to dispose of hive material and clean it all up.

The bees will usually swarm to a place where other swarms have been, and often set up digs in the same place as a previous hive if it has been removed by a beekeeper or died out. They may possibly do this by scent, hormone or pheromone or somesuch similar excretion.

I have had five swarms in the same two tree branches the last few weeks.

Give me a PM if you want them to get a stern dose of looking at.

Cheers,

Andy

Originally Posted by Bundalene

Just re-read your notes...are you sure they are normal honey bees...?

The only reason I ask is we also get Teddy Bear Bees come in for a few weeks each year. Erich

No Teddy Bears just basic European Honey Bees