Anyone know about bees? Living in my wall

[SmellsLikeAdultSpirit]

I have bees living in my wall. They have got in a small hole where a water pipe comes in. They have packed around the pipe with bits of fluff
They look like a bumble variety. I don't mind them but I can't keep my door open. My open door blocks their access and they get confused, it is all glass, and they end up in the kitchen
I wouldn't want their numbers to grow
Should I do anything to move them?

Google local bee keepers. If you’ve got a nest, they’ll usually volunteer to come and move the hive for you. Locally to me, it’s free and irrelevant what type of bee it is but I know other areas are dependent on the species and expenses.

Sounds like mason bees www.bumblebeeconservation.org/redmasonbee/ Beekeepers won't collect anything that's not a honey bee.

I don't think it would be ethical to try and kill them, and I doubt you can move them successfully, but at an appropriate point in the breeding season (ie when larvae have hatched but new ones haven't yet been laid) you could block up the crack.

This happened in our house when I was a kid. My parents had to get a beekeeper out, I don’t know if they paid or not or what type of bees they were. I think a call to a beekeeper is worth doing so you know where you stand.

They sound like Mason or solo bees. No beekeeper will come out for them.

All you can do is block any small holes. They crawl in to nest, any small hole is investigated.

We had them in our chimney a few weeks ago. We were advised to smoke them out by burning wet grass. It worked. obvs a lot easier to do that in a chimney though. They were mason bees.

You can either leave them for now and wait till they swarm at the end of the summer or if you really want rid of them paint a little bit of petrol around the hole where they come in and out - they don't like the smell and will buzz off!

Could you try putting a bee house in the garden to give them an alternative place? One like this:

www.amazon.co.uk/Greenkey-664-Solitary-Wasp-House/dp/B01C8URSQS/ref=asc_df_B01C8URSQS/?hvlocphy=1007261&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=256046984363&hvpone&hvlocint&th=1&hvpos=1o11&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-422962195348&hvrand=1150088558719459175

As well as preventative measures, I mean!

Beekeepers won't come out.

Could you not just leave them alone, keep the door closed as much as possible and they'll move on in a few weeks? They won't hurt anyone.

We had a nice little colony 10 years ago in the cavity of our extension outside wall as it was being built. They were quite friendly and no trouble at all. Once we put the outside door on it blocked up the hole so I made the builders drill a hole through the mortar to give them alternative access. The bees arrived in April and had all but gone by early August. They don't actually last so long in the grand scheme of things, only a few weeks really so enjoy them while they live with you.

I'm not really bothered about them, I just don't want too many
They are not mason bees. They are bumble bees but I guess around 10 of them
When they leave around August time will the young babies go too. I'm worried about blocking them in
Will they be making honey in there?

Bees are endangered so try and save them please, they're helping to save the planet! Definitely ask a local RSPCA or a beekeeper, they'll want to help bumblebees. Possibly making honey, I think they can basically do it wherever there's room

I also have this at the moment! They are in a raised stone planter. The advice I was given was to leave them bee (sorry) as they won’t stick around for very long. There aren’t very many of them at all and the heavy rain has definitely reduced the activity.

The current queen will die, as will all the other bumbles with the exception of any new queens, who will find other places to hibernate over winter - plant pots are a popular choice.

There will be a tiny honeypot in the nest, but not massive combs like you get with 50,000 honeybees needing to keep the colony alive throughout winter - that's also why they aren't as grumpy around predators like humans.

If guiding stray bumbles back outside is wearing a bit thin, you could pop a voile over the door, which will also keep out wasps and bastard fucking flies/midges/mosquitos/other bitey things/stupid fucking craneflies later in the year.