To be fucking upset that my neighbours

[PisforPeter]

Have started keeping mason bees??
They look like wasps but are mason bees apparently. We live in new build houses so gardens are small & our patio area is now full of these insects. I'm so upset & have 2 young dc's. What can I do??

Ooh, if I get one of those houses is.there a chance that next year our bees will move into that rather than our walls?

Since they are harmless, can't OP catch one & hold it in your hand and show her it's harmless? Missing a terrific opportunity to help child get over fear of bugs. I'm funny about bugs but always encouraging DC to pick them up and handle.

OP id be distressed too initially but after reading some of the posts you can now see they are harmless. perhaps take this chance (and i say this honestly as i have a 5yr terrified of bees/wasps/anything that buzzes and flys) to teach her about the bees and that they are harmless and maybe ask neighbour if you can see it.

snap ragged. my thinking exactly!

Thurlow: If you are worried then ask your neighbours what kind of bee they are. But if they are mason bees they are entirely harmless, and maybe you could use it to try and get your DC used to bees?

I think this is an excellent idea of Thurlow's Also, MonoNoAware's comment about the neighbour maybe teaching your DD about the bees.

OP, I do sympathise as I'm terrified of bees and wasps but we too have masonary bees living in the garden, in an empty pond (they seem to live in the walls, so to speak) and I'm trying really hard to train myself into understanding that they really are harmless and more importantly, essential.

They aren't dangerous and they do lots of good. How your DC react will depend a lot on how you react. If you make a big deal about it, yes the kids will be upset. If you carry on as normal or talk about how cool the bees are, that attitude will influence your kids. It's up to you to make this as easy or as difficult as you wish it to be.

I disagree about the parenting model. I am not bothered by spiders or wasps yet my dc are like Lords a leaping, if they come into contact.

bees have a 'flight path' to their hive, and dont tend to 'swarm around'

This ^^ Plus most bees fly at a height of over 6 ft so your children probably won't really notice them. I think it's great chance to let your young children not develop a fear of bees as they are precious, fascinating things.

We're getting a hive at our allotment, many as an educational tool for our DC. Instead of getting het up about it, talk to your, neighbour, ask if your DC can take a look at the hive etc. You will probably feel loads better once you learn more about them.

YABU as there's absolutely nothing to be concerned about. Bees are really, really important. The idea of killing them when the populations are dropping almost catastrophically, and we depend on them so much, is utterly moronic.

It's a great learning opportunity for your children.

Bees are not to be scared of - teach your children to respect them and learn about the good they do.

We had masonry bees living outside an outpatient clinic where I worked once. The room was full of them as they crawled through the tiniest gaps in the window. Dead bees, live bees, fecking bees everywhere. They buzzed around everyone's heads and clinics had to be cancelled until somebody moved them on (don't know how).

I'd hate it if I was sitting surrounded by bees regardless of their sting potency or not.

I'm making a trip to the nearest pound stretcher tomorrow. Thanks for that.

My dd(5) used to be petrified of anything flying about and buzzing. One summer it just got ridiculous and she was running inside screaming every five minutes. Her little sister was also learning to be scared.

So I got some books out about bees and wasps and we looked at all the interesting facts about them. She loved it. It got her hooked on all kinds of insects and wildlife and she is now (at 6) a complete expert. She adores wildlife programs, is outside all the time, and we have frequent 'pets' - currently snails, tadpoles and ants.
The bees left her a cuddly bee toy in a tree last summer with a note to say thank you for being our friends and for not shouting and scaring us when we fly past.
The more kids understand the facts the less scary they are and you can all enjoy your summer outside then

The bees left her a cuddly bee toy in a tree last summer with a note to say thank you for being our friends and for not shouting and scaring us when we fly past

Lovely! Might nick that idea

I grew up terrified of certain insects; so much so that I couldn't even say the name of what scared me, and I was bloody determined that my DC wouldn't grow up with the same fears. I feel so stupidly happy when I see them handling insects and watching the bees gathering pollen etc. and feel relieved that I didn't pass on my phobias to them.

YANBU. I'd hate it. Buzzing around all my kids garden toys, flying in to my house, 10 weeks or not I'd flipping hate it. Keeping bees shouldn't be allowed in an estate.

Whoever it was who suggested getting exterminators out and laying poison, apart from the fact I think you're a tit, bees are protected.

When I was little we had an outside toilet and one year the wasps built a nest in the roof of it, now that was a bit scary!

Thank you for starting this thread. We've had masonry bees living in the brickwork of our new build house for the last 15years. I didn't know what they were called until today, so this thread has been a lesson.
They've never bothered us, let alone stung us.

We have a little bee hotel in our garden near the greenhouse, two young boys who spend all their days outside during spring and summer and neither has ever been stung (I have, but I stood on the poor bugger so it was my own fault). I tend to think kids need to see nature in all it's forms in order to respect and understand it.

Except wasps; we had some built a next in the outdoor playroom last year and I almost shat myself when I noticed it and suddenly spotted 47 bajillion of the swines buzzing about all over the toys. Still, it was beautiful construction, once they'd been escorted off the premises).

YABVU. If no one did anything that someone else might be afraid of - and which is actually harmless - what kind of life would we lead? And bees are so much more important to most species on this planet than many people realise.

YANBU

I like bees, but your neighbours should have asked out of courtesy.

"A few weeks" is our whole summer.

"Pest controllers aren't allowed to kill bees"

I think they are under certain circumstances?

We had major work done in our bathroom last year, the big burly builder who was ripping the ceiling down ran out screaming like a small girl... turns out there were bees nesting in the insulation. Unfortunately the nest was already half destroyed and there were angry bees buzzing round our building site bathroom so, yes, someone did have to kill them, sadly.

But we had another colony of bees living on the other side of our house, flew in and out of the rafters happily all summer without bothering anybody.

YANBU. I couldn't cope with this.

I am terrified of wasps and allergic to their stings. Last suspected stinging (I stepped on something, didn't see what it was) nearly landed me in hospital so anything that buzzes near me freaks me out.

I know bees are good etc and they won't sting unless you really threaten them but they have stingers and can use them and that alone freaks me right out.

Ask what? You don't keep these bees. If you didn't provide a commercially built home for them, they would do what they've always done and found a home in a hole in a tree or wood or the bricks of a house.

They are around you anyway - town or village.

You have to learn to live with them!

They bought a wooden 'insect house' for them to live in which is 6ft from our shared fence!!
She told me they are mason bees, they look like wasps to me. There were about 20-30 bees swarming around the 'house' when I was there earlier. I appreciate they are good for the environment but this is not the right setting. I could have chickens & a cockerel & it would be better than buying supermarket eggs but it would be anti-social & inappropriate to do it in this setting.