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??

We had them in our garden (nested in one of our airbricks) Totally fascinating- we could sit and eat about 2 foot from nest and they never bothered us at all. I guess if you start 'flapping your arms about' the poor things may get a bit disorientated on the way to/from nest :(

Bees are wonderful creatures. We have mason bees in our brickwork - well the bits we haven't had repointed yet anyway. Mason bees cannot sting you - embrace the bees (mentally, not literally) because without them, we're all stuffed.

I was really happy to spot an actual honey bee in my garden the other day - I don't think I spotted a single one last year. Lots of lovely bumbles though.

Mason bees are not like wasps, they won't go after your ice cream.

Could you plant some flowers that bees don't like? I think thyme and eucalyptus might be suitable which would discourage them from your patio.

Add message | Report | Message poster YouTheCat Sun 26-Apr-15 20:47:18
Whoever it was who suggested getting exterminators out and laying poison, apart from the fact I think you're a tit, bees are protected.

A very basic google search tells me this is a load of bunkum. Bees are not a protected species in the UK.

I've had Mason bees nest in the brick vents every spring for 5 years. I tried to get rid of them at first then realised they are harmless and dont hang around for long.

We have had three types of bee in our garden recently. A huge, and I mean massive, bumble bee, honey bees and what I think must be mason bees. They were crawling into the bluebells and dd was fascinated watching them. We have tons of plants and flowers plus a plum tree which is full of blossom so we attract bees and butterflies. We also have two ponds and have frogs, tadpoles, newts and one toad. Mr toad is huge and king of our tiny garden.

OP, even if your neighbours move the box the nest in, they can easily just finding something else to nest in. If Mason bees want to move in, they will. I didnt encourage them to move in, they just did. They are right above my back door and they can stay there.

The bees emerge from their cocoons in the spring, with males the first to come out. They remain near the nests waiting for the females. When the females emerge, they mate. The males die, and the females begin provisioning their nests.

I'd be annoyed too. It's a good thing that they are this seemingly benign species but it's not very fair on you to be surrounded by them when you're trying to enjoy your garden. However, if they are new, it could well be that they are a bit confused and once they have established their hive they will take a more direct route. I saw this on a programme once about bee keeping - that they tend to settle down after a short while.

Oooh, I was looking for a bonkers thread to end my MN night, and I've found one! Thank you, beehaters who love to be outdoors as long as there are no outdoor things there

Our bee population is still struggling. Without bees we won't have enough fruit & stuff, or flowers. Be nice to them, please.

I hadn't heard of Mason bees before, and am quite impressed they seem to be a more human-friendly (or less threatening, at least) variety. let them do their pollinating, OP, they'll die soon.

How about giving DD some nice bee learning materials? I know there are loads, and some poster with young DC will be able to give links.

I'm buzzzzzzzzzzzzing off to bed now ... zzzzzzz ...

Hahahahaha.

OP should come round my house. Bees everywhere. They'll disappear in a couple of weeks, giving me a week or two to prepare for the May bugs. Sometimes we get hundreds at a time hammering on the windows like something out of a Hitchcock movie. Now that's something that would freak out the OP and have her thank her lucky stars its only a few bees she has to keep off her egg soldiers.

Oh, so you do plan to get a cat at some point, OP.

So you are that petty. Thanks for clearing that up.

Mason bees do not buzz around your head/food like wasps - are you sure they aren't actually wasps (which live in a nest and would be nothing to do with your neighbour)? If they are indeed wasps and not mason bees then kill them ... KILL THEM WITH FIRE! :)

Dh is allergic has his epi pen in the car, but even he would be fine with neighbours having a hive. He's fascinated by them being the thing keeping all our food growing. He doesn't bother them and they leave him alone.
Maybe plant some colourful flowers as far from the house as you can, to attract them away from your patio.

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

You could have chickens no problem. You wouldn't need a cockerel and indeed, your neighbours wouldn't appreciate that, but there are hundreds, if not thousands of people who happily keep a chicken coop (with sufficient space for a run) in a small garden. Chickens aren't generally noisy, and are not particularly anti-social

You have some funny ideas about the outdoors OP

Ugh, maybugs - now THOSE I could live without.