To be cross that some companies take you for a fool?

[BrigitBigKnickers]

We have a bees nest in our eves. When I spoke to the woman from the pest control company I found on line, she said they sounded like honey bees and put me on hold to ask her colleague about bee keepers in the area. Was then told they would send round a bee keeper (at a fee of £120) to take them away as they couldn't just kill them because they are endangered/ food chain problems/ pollination etc. etc.

An hour later two blokes turn up wearing shirts with a company logo claiming they deal with drainage - looked up at the bees buzzing about and said "yeah we can spray those love."
"No- you can't do that they are endangered- are you bee keepers?"
"Nope just pest control."

When I asked them what they thought the insects were they said they didn't know!

I told them to bugger off and phoned the company to complain- different woman said no they don't have bee keepers on their books and only ever deal with masonry bees...don't deal with honey bees and suggested I call the Bee keepers association! So the first woman had just blatently lied.

When I called the Bee keepers assoc. they said they sounded like bumble bees as honey bees don't really make nests in the eves of houses and just to leave well alone as they are not dangerous.

I had a closer look and she is right they are Bumble Bees.

So I am not out of pocket by £120 but really rather cross!

My parents had a huge swarm of honey bees in their chimney. The local beekeeper came and took two hives full away for free and he was very pleased.

You did right.

So angry that they were quite happy to destroy creatures that are endangered (they didn't know anything about that) and I would have paid for the privelidge!

They were basically drain cleaners with a insect spray- no expertise what so ever.

Well done you for saving the bees. I imagine a lot of others would have just let them get on with it.

Well done! Not many people know they're a protected species!

We had a bee nest in our tumble dryer (had got in through the vent in the wall) and I had to ring the Bee Keeper association. We were also told to just leave them be as they weren't dangerous and it was too late to move the nest anyhow. They didn't come back the following year though .

MoreBeta I'm sure the local beekeeper was happy, a hive is worth a few hundred quid isn't it?

I don't really know what bees are worth. However, my parents have another couple of hives worth growing in their chimney now and the beekeeper has retired so they are a bit stuck with who to call.

Apparently, they were really strong healthy bees which is quite unusual with the high incidence of Varroa mite and so many bee colonies dying.

Being a 'greenie' I would be tempted to report the company to the environment agency or defra - as they obviously don't have a clue what they're doing...and are probably not using approved chemicals (jumping wildly to conclusion).

MoreBeta - Your local council will be able to put you in touch with a bee keeper who can help.

Scoles - I do hope the Council can help because its out of control.

Problem is my parents can't get the bees out of the chimney without dismantling the side of their house. The bees live in there all winter because its warm and then swarm every so often in summer. Its like a sort of bee nursery and the comb must be massive in there.