bumble bees in trees.....

[richardwernham]

HI, was chogging down a dead willow the other day & found a bumble bee nest. Stopped work & left the trunk up (tree is safe for the time being) butb don't know what to do about it. Local council says leave it & hope bees relocate but i've a feeling they'll just burrow deepern into thw tree which won't solve my problem. Killing them isn't an option, I won't do it & the client doesn't want that done anyway..

 

Anyone else come across this before?

[Ben90]

Can you do something to make it safe in the longer term? like get some guy ropes up there and just leave it as an unplanned monolith. Explain to the client the other benefits of leaving standing deadwood such as bird activity and such, i'm sure they'll love it.

[Stephen Blair]

get a beekeeper in.

[gibbon]

We stopped a big job on a development site a few months back because of Bumble Bees nesting in the stumps of an old Elm hedge. Although I don't think they are protected species, we did want to kill them. I consulted an ecologist who advised that the bees were likely to move on in late summer, but to leave as many stumps in situ and plant around them. Its going to be a pain going back when there are a load of houses in the way but its better than willfully destroying them

 

On your job can you gently lower the timber down in the winter and stack the timber somewhere like a hedge row?

[ukminch]

Are they bumble bees or honey bees, ie big ones or little ones? I did a job not so long ago for a beekeeper was quite an experience climbing a tree in a bee suit to catch a swarm........

 

Certainly a more unusual day in the office

[Bundle 2]

Bumble bees preferred habitat is the ground....thats your luck I guess!

If you can relocate the nest/hive, you might be successful in moving them elswhere. Lowering to the ground and continue the job maybe.

There's always a risk they will disperse and the colony will die .

Leaving them is best eh! If you can.

 

You are right. There is no protection afforded these insects. Indirectly perhaps by way of spraying regs and restrictions but otherwise nothing I understand.....Im afraid you are the front line!

[cousin jack]

Bumble bees all die off in the autumn/winter anyway, just like wasps. The exception is the queens which will find their own little spot to hibernate and start again with a new nest next spring, cut the rest of the tree down, late autumn, no bother.

[Saw-sick Steve]

CJ is correct, (never thought I'd see those words in the same sentence:lol:), the workers will all die off by the end of summer and only next years queens will survive by hibernating elsewhere. So, if you can leave the tree for a few months then all will''bee'' () well - assuming the nest is still dry.

I have relocated nests before, best done in the late evening when all the workers are in the nest. They can sting, but have to be really provoked before they do.

[ad15]

bumble bees nest in teh root plate of a mac i took down a motnh or two back,, the stump was on a pile of rocks, the bees buzzed about all day totally happy with me being there,,, was in there yesterday and they're still happy..

 

 

on another note, the peregrine falcons nest is still going well with the young out and about, see them fighting over food on a regular basis..

[Steve Bullman]

i did one last year where the bee keeper came out, caught the queen along with a couple of her workers to relocate.