Possible Bees Nest - problem or not? (with pics)

[SlightyJaded]

Hello

Have tried googling but still not sure whether to leave alone or not.

Over the last few days we have noticed lots of bees disappearing under our raised bed - clearly they are nesting there is some way. I am very happy to leave them be if that's the right thing and am well aware of how important it is to care for our bees. However, we have children and a dog and I just want to make sure that I am not ignoring a potential hazard. Mostly they seem to just want to collect pollen from the lavender and wallflower in the raised bed and haven't been aggressive, but when got close to I try to photograph one today for identification, it did sort of fly at me - but could have just been coincidence

I don't think they are yellow jackets and some seem big and fluffy and bumblebee like, but others are smaller - have tried attaching a couple of blurry pics and would welcome any advice.

Another pic

How lucky you are. Just leave them be, and they wont hurt you

It’s a small colony of bumble bees they are harmless if left alone and will naturally die off at the end of the summer leaving the queen to hibernate over winter.

They are lovely we have loads in our garden with a toddler and dog and they mind their own business.

Oh wow!! You are so fortunate to have bees in your garden. I have only just started bee keeping so am by no means an expert. Those are bumble bees (as opposed to honey bees we keep in a hive) they will be quite happy and won’t pose any risk if you just leave them alone. Make sure they have a source of water to drink/take back to cool the nest. Very jealous!!!

gardentherapy.ca/bee-bath/

That’s lovely
They won’t bother you, they are pretty peace loving but try not to let the toddler or dog disturb them

Oh that's what I was hoping to hear. I've just found a dead one :( Deffo not alive or I would have given sugar-water. I'll move him and hope that they others are ok. I wonder why he died.

So I can just leave and be smug that I have attracted bees to my garden, yes?

Yes! Lucky you

They only live about a month so don’t worry about the odd deceased one

Thanks @Etihad Now I am not worried that I should be doing some hint, I am really enjoying watching them going about their work.

*something

I have 2 nests/hives in different parts of the garden. One is at the base of a huge laurel tree but the other is in the top of a compost soil bag that I had just folded the top down on after opening it.

They are definitely bees and not wasps, not fluffy so I am assuming honey bees? Short term fine, long term I will need to move the bag and I need the contents! I see them coming and going, I would consider it light traffic and I can hear the humming from inside the bag. I haven't looked inside for obvious reasons.

At what point can I consider moving the nest or whatever? I know bee keepers deal with swarms but this isn't a swarm. They have access to water as we put water out for the birds.

mudpie It might be worth getting in touch with a local beekeeper for advice, cause if they are bees that does sound like a swarm. A swarm’s not the big angry flying round noisy thing most people imagine.

When a hive gets too full, it makes a new queen and half of the bees fly off with one of them to find somewhere new to live. A few go first to find somewhere suitable while the others wait in a safe place - so it could be that? Unless it’s been there a while as they may have started setting up shop.

It’s the right time of year for them to start doing this. And a nucleus of bees like this is worth a lot of money so any keeper who is registered to collect swarms would be delighted to help you.

I think BBKA have a list of local contacts.

Thanks for that @Etihad. I will sit out in the garden tomorrow (it is raining now) and observe them for a bit, keep a bee tally so to speak. Maybe I can get a camera set up near the bag to record a bit.

I did actually look into the local beekeepers to see what they said. All their swarm pictures show large swarms hanging off trees or on fences. They charge a minimum "donation" of £30 which I am more than happy to give but I didn't know if it was worth their while for such a small hive.

If it was anywhere else it would be fine and I would leave it be like the laurel one but the bag was stashed on the patio for winter. Before the bees I had a bird nesting in it so haven't been able to move it for months!

Must be a fancy schmancy bag Mud

@ChateauMyself It's from B&Q! Just theirs not even a branded one. I think it is in a sheltered spot from wind, clearly location, location, location

I have just been and had a look, examined them and I think they are in fact Tree Bumblebees or Bombus hypnorum. In my defence they are not that fluffy but they have little white bums so cannot be a honey bee.

But I did witness some "distinct mating behaviour" they fly around outside the new nest waiting for the queen! Get me and my new bee knowledge. Suppose it is nicer than the pigeon bowing and following that I have witnessed in my garden, including them mating at the end eugh.

I am very impressed that you could identify them @mudpiemaker. I had to come here with blurry pictures for a common bumblebee

As has been said OP, yours identify as a species of bumblebee - for a definative ID look on the Bumblebee Conservation Trust website, they have pictures and ecological details of our 20plus species of bumblebee. The trust was founded by Dave Goulson who has written some marvellous books, not only about bees, but also many of the other wonderful insects, invertebrates and small animals we share our homes and gardens with!

There are also many species of 'solitary' bees, such as leafcutters, masonry and mining bees. Their ecology is vastly different to social species and, although called solitary, where you get one, if conditions are right, you will often find large numbers, giving the impression of a colony.

@mudpiemaker - the Tree Bumblebee is a fairly recent arrival from Scandinavia, it is thought that hibernating queens stowed away on timber ships coming into the UK. They are quite a large bee, usually nesting in birdboxes, of all places, and very distinctive with that white tail. Also inclined to be a little more bad tempered than most other species!

Enjoy your bees OP, it would be a sad world without them

@Beekeeper1 I am truly honoured that an actual beekeeper is here on this thread!

Dh and I have been out there to pap a close up photo and I am glad to confirm definitely a treebumblebee. I used the Bumblebee Conservation Trust website which was fantastic. It has a white bum, black body and an orange disc on its back. It helped to know from that they like flowers that hang downwards and err raspberries, which I have a large amount of. I have a lot of normal bumblebees on there and when we went to pap a pic it was difficult to follow Mr Tree but we did manage to get a good photo.

So Scandinavia? oooh, maybe it knows my love of Ikea.

We saw mainly normal sized ones but then a whopper one came out! I am assuming it was the queen. I am honoured.

@SlightyJaded, I think you did a marvellous job photographing it. I know honey bees live in hives, heck I even watched a video on YouTube about how to tell if the hive will accept a new queen. It was suggested to me by YouTube.

But I couldn't have told you where bumblebees live

@Beekeeper1 Thanks so much. I'll have a look at the site you recommended. Before I posted here, I did visit a fair few 'Bee' sites and they were actually all really interesting. I'm going to enjoy watching them tomorrow.

@mudpiemaker - thank you! I might take some more pics tomorrow. They really are fascinating to watch and are proper, gorgeous, fat bumblebees :)