Bees

[eileenjb56@hotmail.com]

Hello All
Whilst digging my garden I have stumbled on a Bees nest in the soil. They look like small Bumble Bees. I dont want to kill them. I asked a bee keeper for advice and I was told to dig them up and put them in a box and cover them and take them 1 mile away. I am not that brave. Any other ideas?

[Two_Sheds]

They will most likely be solitary bees. They very rarely sting you, so just leave them alone.
Solitary Bees & Things Home

[Cloud]

If there is only one of them chances are they are ground bees,if there are sevral of them they are probaly Bumble Bees neither of which sting ,so probaly best leave them alone as they are an important part of wildlife.

[Two_Sheds]

Bumbles DO sting; but only the Queen and the worker bees have a sting, the drones (male) do not. http://hercules.users.netlink.co.uk/Bee.html

[Cloud]

Sorry Twosheds but bumbles do not sting,I saw it when I was at school and through personal experince.

[eileenjb56@hotmail.com]

I have put some dry grass on them and some woodchip. I hope that will not upset them . I understand that some of the bees will die off and the new queens will have to find new homes then the current queen finds somewhere to hibernate

[Two_Sheds]

Sorry Twosheds but bumbles do not sting,I saw it when I was at school and through personal experince.

Sorry Cloud, but the females do sting. (You probably had a male one) See here: http://www.bumblebee.org/bodySting.htm

[jamesp]

Also, interestingly enough, most people think a bee dies if they sting you, that is a complete myth apart from the honey bee apparently, also much more varietys of wasp actually die if they sting you.

It was on an episode of QI.....Stephen Fry show.

[Cloud]

Asking around today and several people have been stung by wasps,honey bees and horse flies but no one has been stung by a bumble bee.

[Two_Sheds]

Asking around today and several people have been stung by wasps,honey bees and horse flies but no one has been stung by a bumble bee.

I've never been bitten by a lion, but I know that they bite

[Maudie]

We found ourselves in a similar situation when we took our old shed down. At the moment we have placed an unused composter with the door open so the bees have easy access. We have been given the same advice as yourself, not very satisfactory - so I think we are going to turn that area of the garden into a veg plot.