Found a wild beehive in the garden

[Fraxinus]

Well it seemed pretty wild when my fork disturbed it
While clearing lots of ground ivy I disturbed the small community of bees and stood stock still when they went into hyperdrive. I let them settle and went off for a brew then returned with my camera.

I have re-covered them with some of the dried grass that was there and a bit of the ivy and they have settled down again nicely so will keep an eye out for them and leave this patch 'till autumn or spring.
I am not sure what type of bee these are but they are great to watch.

Rob.

 

[cranmere]

Ooh, bumblebees! Lovely. This site might help with identification.

http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/identification/

 

[Harvestman]

They look like common carder bees, one of the brown bumblebees. Not aggressive or anything to worry about. Your actions were spot on.

Nice pics too.

 

[Trencakey]

I think I have a Bumblebee nest starting in my roof.I've noticed a few going in and out this week.

 

[Fraxinus]

Ooh, bumblebees! Lovely. This site might help with identification.

http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/identification/

Great link thank you, I have added to fav's for future reference too.

They look like common carder bees, one of the brown bumblebees. Not aggressive or anything to worry about. Your actions were spot on.

Nice pics too.

Thank you, I would like to leave them alone but this bit of the garden has been left to fend for itself for several years and needs tidying up....so do I wait until I see no further activity or a particular part of of the year before clearing this bit of ground, I guess what I am asking is "do they move on, die off or hibernate?" My main worry is to do with the demise of so many bees in recent years so do not want to displace or harm these bees.

Rob.

 

[oldtimer]

We regularly have bumblebees in our roof and pleased to have them since we take care to provide plenty of bee friendly flowers.

But three days ago, we had a swarm of honey bees take up residence in a tree. The local beekeepers' mafia didn't want to collect them on the grounds that 10 feet up a tree was a bit much for local members who are all in their seventies apparently. I did get aan expert though who emailed me to say that it would be best to let nature take its course and that would only stay a few days. He was right: tow days later they went as suddenly and qietly as they arrived. It gave me a very strong sense of fellow feeling. Like them, many is the time I've wanted to find a stopover on my travels for a rest andmake and mend day before moving on. I hope they enjoyed their stay and go on to fertilise lots of plants as they go.

If you find them a problem, just google beekeepers and you'll get someone to give advice. Sweet people, beekeepers: must be all the honey!

 

[Harvestman]

Thank you, I would like to leave them alone but this bit of the garden has been left to fend for itself for several years and needs tidying up....so do I wait until I see no further activity or a particular part of of the year before clearing this bit of ground, I guess what I am asking is "do they move on, die off or hibernate?" My main worry is to do with the demise of so many bees in recent years so do not want to displace or harm these bees.

Rob.

Rob, at the end of the summer the colony will die off and only the queen will hibernate to survive the winter. In the spring she will look for a fresh nest site.

 

[Harvestman]

Bumblebees in a roof space these days are likely to be the newly colonised species the Tree bumblebee (brown front, black middle, white tail) since most of our native bumblebees prefer to nest at ground level. Tree bumblebee is a bit more aggressive than normal bumbles though I wouldn't say it is dangerous, just more likely to sting. it likes bird nestboxes too, so watch out when checking for baby birds in the spring or you might get more than you bargained for.

 

[Robson Valley]

Protect your wild bees as best you can. In the winter of 2014-2015, 40% of all honey bee colonies died in North America.
That is a USDA measured fact. Why? Several possible reasons, maybe regional differences.
The more that you can do to provide easy "bee-access: flowers, the better.
If you don't yet know about the perils fascing honey bees and human crop pollination values,
you all owe it to yourselves to become far better educated.
It's probable, for whatever reasons, that we have depended upon the masses of bees for our food
and that we have phuqued up their world at the same time.