Bees in the chimney!

[redboxerclub]

Has anyone had any experience of this

yesterday we noticed what we though was a wasp behind the blind but is carful evicted it and said that it was a honey bee I not a was or something else I wasn’t 100%

1 hour later we have 20 bees in the blinds and the dog and husband refusing to go in the the room! Anyway brave me goes and realeases the bees and then see them around the chimney and hear them buzzing near the stove. There are a lot of bees.

It is a lot burner with a liner and has a steel plate so cannot block it.

cannot find an apiarist but find a pest man local to us and send him a messages na she calls me. The last time he removed bees from a chimney was 2.5k

He said try to smoke them out with damp fire and keep it going 50/50 they will go if they haven’t been there too long.

There are no more bees today . We have lit another damp fire. And there are no bees round the pot. But I’m reluctant to believe it wa that easy!

has anyone any stories? Insurance? Apiarist?

In love bees but a a live hive in a house is a risk and can’t be removed.

Hi, I’m a beekeeper. If the bees are a recently arrived swarm, then a smoky fire may well make them move on. Sounds like you may have been lucky and have done the right thing.

An established colony in a chimney is a lot more of an issue. You’d have wax and honey up the chimney which would be a fire risk and difficult to remove.

Fingers crossed your bees have moved on 🤞

Happened to me 2 weeks ago. But I think I caught it earlier than you as they were not in the room
, just buzzing in the chimney, and we have an open fire. Got a smoky fire going and we haven’t seen them since

oh phew!!

the pest man was absolutely lovely and fantastic!! He said a cardboard fire with grass cuttings. If this helps anyone!!

how many hives do you have? I’d really love to have some bees. They are just so fascinating I read up on them last year and I got a bit bee obsessed.

I currently have 2 hives. I’ve had more in the past, but I work so two (or three) is enough. It’s not a cheap hobby to set up, but I do enjoy my bees. If you want to get bees, I’d advise doing a course run by a local beekeeping association first- before you get bees. They will be able to support you, if you take up the hobby, especially in your first year.