Feral Honeybees and the Facts
Published 13.Sep.2008, 11:06am
What the public need to know about feral honeybees
European Honey Bee Apis mellifera sp
Feral honeybees, Facts;
European honeybees require protection from the elements, a store of food (40lbs+honey 5lbs+ pollen) to carry them through the winter period when between 6,000 and 12,000 workers together with the queen are present. They increase to 90,000 workers, a queen and some 200 drones by July.
A swarm of honey bees has settled in somebodies garden tree, the owner of the tree called a beekeeper not a pest control company. Photograph by Gregory Boon © 2002
Shelter, where ever bees have lived they will always live, i.e. hive, skep, chimney flue, roof, soffit/ facia, behind tile hanging above ceilings in dormers etc. The only way to not have bees in residence is to prevent access, almost impossible or to fill the voids. Bees require 3 cubic feet of space (810 cu. Centimetres) If they have less space then the tendency to swarm is increased.
Feral Honey Bees have filled the whole chimney void with comb. Photograph by Gregory Boon © 2002
From 1994 in South East England conditions have changed, there are thousands of colonies fewer, the Environment is adversely affected, an Asiatic mite, varroa destructor is here, hundreds of bee keepers have given up. The mite sucks the hæmolymph from the bees and in doing so injects a paralysis virus causing the adult bees death, the mite breeding cycle causes loss of worker pupae and greatly increase the demise of hived and feral colonies, the remaining bees abscond to join healthy colonies infesting them.
Any colony present in a dwelling will therefore die out, often during late Winter or early Spring, all infected colonies will succumb within three years maximum. Only by continual swarming as at present will any bees survive outside the control of bee keepers.
Removing an established honeybee colony from a chimney. Photograph by Gregory Boon © 2002
Removal of colonies from buildings is simple if done promptly when a swarm arrives, or with established colonies the best removal period is early April through to the middle of May, this is a period when the colony is expanding rapidly and honey present is minimal. (Climate change now brings this forward by two weeks in 2000 & in 2002 by five weeks)
Costs, expensive in terms of building work since wild bees live high, hollows in trees being the natural home. In walls and above ceilings the plaster is best removed and is the cheapest for reinstatement. Tile hanging in good order should not be disturbed, in poor order then complete retiling with fibre glass or rockwool inserted between the studs. Facias and soffitts require to be ventilated under current building regulations. Bees require only a quarter inch hole for access.
Chimneys, bees occupy only disused flues, they recognise used flues although the odd error can happen. In the case of flues there is no need to do anything other than smoke out an incoming swarm, after three days they will not leave. Established colonies are easily removed however the costs must include a scaffold for chimneys and similar high locations.
Poisoning is an option, however the costs are similar simply because a food substance, honey, is involved, all honey has to be removed and destroyed as it will be contaminated with pesticide which will end up in hives killing bees and in honey for human consumption. Bees are excellent thieves. Removal costs run between a £150 & £500 where scaffolding is involved. Because the bees will die and others will reoccupy my advice is to wait till bees die out and seal up entrances and any local access points. There is often honey left now upwards of 40-100lbs. This will eventually seep out as a wax moth undertaker arrives to consume the brood combs. The very strong but delicate engineering work done by the bees is quickly undone by the moth larvae, the result is pounds of honey cascading down the chimney or seeping through walls and ceilings and floors.
As with everything prevention is better than cure, the likelihood of bees taking up residence in your house is as good as you winning £5 million on the lottery jackpot unless there have been bees there before, even twenty years ago, then the odds reduce substantially. They increase where bees have previously resided.
What are the consequences of living with bees, realistically most of time you would not be bothered by them. Your home already contains many animals, plants and bacteria some of which you are aware and some you have not considered. Global warming, climate change and varroa has affected the bees and consequently how they will impinge on you. Bees resident at 2,5 metres high or less are likely to be bothersome when you are active within a three metre radius of their entrance, incidentally their entrances are always external and rarely more than one and then close to the nest. I am aware of two to three entrances as much as 2 metres apart and of one entrance two metres from the nest.
Where the nest is more than three metres high and two metres away from a window then there really is no problem in my view, the problem lies then with the attitude of the householder. The exception to this must be for the few people who are extremely allergic to bites and stings from any insects and who will suffer anaphylactic shock and will die as a result unless they receive a subcutaneous andrenlin injection to bring up their heartbeat to normal, these people now carry their own Epi-pen to self inject. The rest of you suffer reactions to stings in varying degrees but to a single or even ten stings there is normally nothing other than discomfort in the form of pain for up to five minutes and itching for perhaps two days. As a regularly stung bee keeper I suffer the pain for a few seconds or a half minute, no itching or irritation, if I receive two or three hundred stings within an hour or two then I might suffer some localised swelling. Bees do not normally sting aggressively except in defence of their immediate colony and if they do suddenly become aggressive then there is an underlying reason which often has to do with a foul smell, excessive heat, poison which affects their mobility senses or some similar disaster. Bees resident in roofs and chimney present no danger whatsoever until the builder is needed, bees dislike sweaty animals including humans and will sting them within close proximity of the nest. Beware! Bees in your garden present no danger at all, watch them visit the flowers collecting nectar, watch them clean pollen from their bodies and pack it into the pollen baskets on their hind legs, note the different colours of the pollen.
Solitary and bumble bees, most solitary bees do not sting or have an ineffective sting which will not penetrate your skin, bumble bees are far less likely to sting even than honeybees, you would have to squash them before they will sting. It is UNLAWFUL to poison any of these bees and there are 20 different bumbles and some 200 different solitaries. Any one successfully prosecuted can face up to a £25k fine in the Magistrates Court and unlimited fine in the Crown Court, in effect the level of fine imposed averages £1,6k for this offence presently.
Finding a beekeeper who is also a qualified builder is nowadays sadly very difficult.
Dependant upon the health & Varroa infestation level colonies might be starving or a strong colony could have stored anything up to 100lbs of honey. Because honeybees are classified as FOOD PRODUCING ANIMALS precautions must be taken to prevent any contaminated honey being carried away and stored in beehives for human consumption. A possible method to allow building works to progress alongside resident bees might be possible by putting up a temporary screen to cause the bees to fly up and over and away from the work site, such an obstruction needs to be in place for a week or two before it's full potential is realised. Protective clothing for the workmen is another option together with a smoker in operation. Anaesthetising the bees with CO² is another option, honeybees stand far higher levels of CO² than humans however the precautions needed to be taken have not nor will they be assessed by the writer. Chilling is a very successful method of controlling the bees and reducing those available for flying. The colony brood temperature has to be maintained at 90 Fahrenheit, bees are torpid at 40 Fahrenheit, they will cluster tight and raise the temperature by consuming food, oscillating the abdominal tergites, the resulting energy use gives off heat to raise the brood temperature, an air conditioning plant comes to mind.
Peter Hutton
Article by Peter Hutton. Photographs by Gregory Boon published with permission on Kentbee.com.
Copyright © 2002-8 by owners. All rights reserved.
Comments
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Note: there is a UK swarm collectors listing if you are outside the Kent area.
http://www.britishbee.org.uk/swarm_collection.php
hello Sir, I am lucky enough to have bees living in a tree at the end of my garden, actually they're in a tree in the garden backing on to mine which is a pub garden. The tree is at the very back of the pubs property and the only entrance appears to be on the side facing away from their garden. Do you think this is a problem and that I should inform the landlord or do you think it will be o.k. for me to carry on enjoying them going about their buisness? I look forward to your reply, yours sincerely , Matt. Holder.
dear sir,we have a nest in our chimney at the top,the question i would like to ask is the bees keep falling down the chimney some appear half dead and some are still very active i have been catching them and releasing them back outside would this create a cycle ie back to the nest and then back down the chimney? why do they come down two floors when they can easily go up? i cant block the chimney off as we have a open fire,i dont want to kill them as i feel the give us so much, any sujestions please.
I have a colony that have taken up residence in my old shed they enter via the floor but i think the hive is about a foot off the floor - is it advisable to get it removed/collected by an experienced bee keeper? fiends have told me that it is better to have hive removed for the protection of the species due to disease if they swarm? They are the black honey bees - can you provide advice on what would be best for the bees?
Dear Sir. I have bees entering a field drain under my back lawn. I am concerned that there is a colony near by, but cannot work out where this could possibly be, unless it is in the pipe itself. The pipe is only about 3 inches in diameter and I am concerned after reading your article that they may swarm or sting if this space becomes too small. The entrance is only 6 feet away from my back door. Do you think I should be concerned? Should I have it removed?(if this is possible?) Do they nest in the ground? If they behave, they are welcome to stay. Your opinion would be appreciated. Thanks Lorraine Twizell
I have bees constantly coming to an outside air vent which is situated on an outside wall in the drive but is near to the kithen I have up to now removed 7 large bees from my kitchen but can not find out where they are coming from probably under the floor boards I would guess ...please can you advise me on what action I should take as they are coming and going to this vent all day and I am really worried about this as they are so ner to the house.
my next door nieghbour has installed 2 hives in her garden with bees, is this legal in a residential estate in somerset my son has an allergic reaction to bee stings ?
Bees in a tree, this is the natural home of feral honeybees, no action is needed, the bees are not interested in the Pub's customers, wasps yes as they have a liking of beer (maltose). Take no action! Bees in the chimney, see above, natural home after trees, the pages above clarify the situation, the bees falling are most likely suffering from one or other of the killer viruses, there is no cure and the nuisance of crawling bees will continue until all have perished. By carefully sealing up all holes around a disused fireplace the problem will be solved in the short term, long a more costly remedy is needed. Email me for further advice. Bees in a shed, ask a local beekeeper to confirm what insect you have and offer suggestions for a remedy which might be to do nothing or might be to remove a colony of honeybees to a hive. A wasp nest could be dispatched after the third week in July when next year's queens have emerged and evacuated the nest. Field drain, honeybees do not live underground, especially in field drains, maybe wasps, which do live underground: Honey Bees are the only bees I know of that swarm which is their form of reproduction and now excessive as they fight to survive. Bees entering the house, these are bumble bees, I can not immediately offer you a reason or solution, if you wish to converse by email I will assist by asking pertinent questions which will indicate how to work out what is happening and how to resolve the problem. It may help to know that bumble bee colonie die out after the young queens have keft the nest which is normally in mid August but might be a whole month earlier this year in SE England.
Bees in a tree, this is the natural home of feral honeybees, no action is needed, the bees are not interested in the Pub's customers, wasps yes as they have a liking of beer (maltose). Take no action! Bees in the chimney, see above, natural home after trees, the pages above clarify the situation, the bees falling are most likely suffering from one or other of the killer viruses, there is no cure and the nuisance of crawling bees will continue until all have perished. By carefully sealing up all holes around a disused fireplace the problem will be solved in the short term, long a more costly remedy is needed. Email me for further advice. Bees in a shed, ask a local beekeeper to confirm what insect you have and offer suggestions for a remedy which might be to do nothing or might be to remove a colony of honeybees to a hive. A wasp nest could be dispatched after the third week in July when next year's queens have emerged and evacuated the nest. Field drain, honeybees do not live underground, especially in field drains, maybe wasps, which do live underground: Honey Bees are the only bees I know of that swarm which is their form of reproduction and now excessive as they fight to survive. Bees entering the house, these are bumble bees, I can not immediately offer you a reason or solution, if you wish to converse by email I will assist by asking pertinent questions which will indicate how to work out what is happening and how to resolve the problem. It may help to know that bumble bee colonie die out after the young queens have keft the nest which is normally in mid August but might be a whole month earlier this year in SE England.
Robin, the short answer to your question is yes, the keeping of honey bees in one's garden is a permitted activity. Two colonies is not an unreasonable number.
It is not unreasonable that you are apprehensive either since you know that bees are reputed to sting and you mention your son has an allergy to bee stings.
Now had you not seen the hives, would you be apprehensive? In all probabitiy there were bees in your garden before your neighbour had theirs nearby, no doubt you have flowers of one sort or another which are visited by bees, have they caused consternation? I doubt you even gave them any thought. Your neighbours bees will be flying out of the hives, up and away, up to three miles away to forage for nectar and pollen, the bees in your garden will come in from elsewhere.
Here in Kent and Sussex there are simply dozens of houses where bees live happily in house alongside the human residents with out incident, see feral honeybees and the facts above!
Now to the point, your sons allergy, is it a matter of severe or minor swelling due to leaky capillaries or is it difficult for him to breathe after being bitten by a horse fly, mosquito or sting from a wasp or bee. Does he carry an Epi pen which has been prescribed by a doctor. If so why has he not been desensitised? that is a simple procedure, I know from experience.
If your son has a prescribed epi pen then might I suggest your neighbour is made aware of the fact so that screen might be erected to increase the height gain for bees overflying your garden, a simple solution, an alternative is for the beehives to be sited in the roof of the bee keepers home or garage. If they contact me as both a beekeeper and builder I would suggest how this solution might be achieved.
We have honey bees in our chimney, they have been there for many years but we have only lived here for a year. I find them very interesting and have had fun showing our kids them through the summer busying about their jobs, but recently they are all over the ground in the garden, alot are dead but others are just crawling around. My children are always out playing without their shoes on and have been stung a few times by stepping on them. Every time i go outside i can count at least ten on the ground, is this because its getting colder or is there another reason? We would love an open fire in the chimney they are nesting but as they have been here for so long i feel i have no right to evict them. A few months ago they swarmed to a near by street and the police closed the street until pest control dealt with them. Is there a humane way they could be moved, although i know this is unlikely becasue of their location, they are apparantly within all the walls surrounding the chimney as well as the chimney itself.
Oscar, there are several possibilities in your case. If you email me directly I will ask for information from which I can give a definite answer, peter.hutton@btinternet.com , in the meantime I will suggest a number of reasons for the symptoms you describe. Firstly the Varroa mite spreads viruses which paralyse the adult bees, deformities such as deformed wing virus leave bees unable to fly, paralysis viruses cause death within five to ten days, starvation is another problem and so on. External poisoning can occur as well and is more common than realised. It is a very sad situation.
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