Michael Thigpen asks:
>
> I was informed by one of the tenants that bumble bees have "taken over"
> the garage there. When I checked this weekend, there were indeed quite a
> few buzzing around. I hate to disturb their activity, but the tenant is
> in a panic. Is there a way that I might "invite" them to shift their
> activity just a bit so that they'll not be near the tenants' vehicles?
 
For some years I used to be on a list of beekeepers held by my local
authority, who are responsible for pest removal in our area.  If someone
called them with a bee problem they'd get one of the beekeepers on the
list to go instead of their own staff.  In my experiece at least half
the call-outs were actually for bumble bees, not honey bees.
 
What I used to do was try to encourage the householder to leave them
alone.  It helps to know something about bumble bees and their behaviour.
Sometimes a little reassurance is all that's needed.  You soon know
whether that's going to work.  If not, I'd try to remove the bumble bees
alive.  This is often quite easy.  The nests are usually made in a ball
of insulating material.  I often used to to find them in bird boxes.
A bird had nested there one year.  The next year a bumble bee queen
established herself in the old nest.  Old mouse nests are another common
place.  My guess is that the bees are in a pile of old rubbish
somewhere in the garage.  If you're lucky the nest will be inside some
sort of container.  Wait until the evening when the bees have stopped
flying  and you can just gently remove the whole container after blocking
the entrance or putting it inside something like a sack.  Otherwise,
you'll have to lift out the nest enclosed in it's insulating matter and
put it in a box to remove.  In this case I'd wear gloves.  There's a lot
to be said for wearing a veil as well although bumble bees are much less
aggressive then honey bees.
 
Finally you can establish the nest somewhere else.  My favourite place
was under my shed, which is raised about 10cm above ground level.  I'd
just put the nest into something like a small cardboard box with a hole
cut for an entrance and push it under the shed.  Then I could watch "my"
bumble bees flying all summer!
 
--
Malcolm Roe                                Phone  :  +44 1442 345104
Crosfield Electronics Ltd                  Fax    :  +44 1442 343000
Hemel Hempstead, Herts. HP2 7RH, UK        E-mail :  [log in to unmask]
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