To pay a beekeeper to move a nest?

[LittleLionHeart]

I've discovered a bumble bee nest in my garden. It's on the top of my conservatory roof. We found a lot of dead bees and dozy bees in our washing and all day today outside (first really warm day of the year here) I could hear a constant buzzing. Investigated and they're in a bird house on our conservatory roof. It's a swarm. Coming in and out constantly and a constant noise. The bird house is full and covered in bees

Google says they'll go after a season's up and a bee charity recommends leaving them but does concede there are people who will remove them but say it's not very ethical.

I'm quite frightened of bees and am a writer. Sitting on the patio (where I intended to write all summer...) I can hear the swarm. I know bees are endangered but I would really like them gone. AIBU?

[UterusUterusGhali]

tarti are you sure yours are bumbles?

[BeckyWithTheMediocreHair]

The plants in our front garden are currently covered in bees (which is doubly pleasing as both a bee lover and an Eddie Izzard fan). Bumbles and honeys, happily going about their business. DD(2) and I say hello to them as we come and go, and she understands that she must not touch them because they are terribly busy and doing their jobs.

[tartiflette]

Uterus I'm pretty sure: they look fat and hairy as they fly in and out but it's high up so you're usually just looking at the bottom of one.
They're definitely not wasps, they're the wrong shape.

[tartiflette]

The humming isn't loud at all, but the individual buzzes are. It sounds like they're chatting.

[cozietoesie]

I'm very jealous. I plant flowers for them - they seem to adore cornflowers - but I've never had a nest here so I have to live with only sitting on the stoop and listening to the contented humming as they go about their business.

I reckon you might grow quite fond of them forbye you're worried right now. Can you incorporate them into the work for your publisher at all?

[Tartsamazeballs]

A lot of misinformed people- beekeepers will move bumbles, and their aggression will depend on the species of bumble. Bimblebees also bite and sting.

We had some bumblebees move in to our composter in our very small garden. We have a dickhead dog who chases bees- it was an accident in the making. We paid an apiarist £40 to relocate them. We had about 350 bees in total!!

[gamerchick]

I had a nest of bumbles in the ground when one year I let the garden become jungle like. I got a dude in to clear it and all these poor bees got lost because id removed their markers to the hole. I had no idea they were there they are so considerate. I felt properly guilty

[shovetheholly]

I'd be delighted to have them but I'm not at all afraid of them. I appreciate this is far more challenging and emotionally difficult for someone who doesn't like bees! However, I do think there might be benefits for you and the bees in trying to tolerate it a bit longer - likelihood is you'll get accustomed to them and desensitized to their presence to the point that you are more comfortable, which is a win for everyone. This happened to me with spiders. I used to be terrified of them outdoors, and now with progressive desensitization I am fine with them. I still don't like them indoors, though.

[cozietoesie]

I don't like the thought of standing on spiders if they run across floors inside, that's all.

Bees are fine once you get used to them and know how to trap them safely and put them outside again. (If they're buzzing in a window or something.) They're generally going about their own business (with flowers) though and are likely to stay out there and out of your way unless they make a mistake. (If you've put something that looks like a flower behind an (open) window for example, they can be confused, big klutzes that they sometimes are. )

[IJustLostTheGame]

I planted all bee friendly plants in our garden and some bumbles have moved in here, it's a hole in our house wall.
I didn't realise they moved every season, this is the second year they've been here.
They don't bother me at all but even time DH goes to the shed he gets investigated and it freaks him out.

[cozietoesie]

You're usually OK if you avoid their 'flying lines'. (They tend to develop routes that they follow.) is he getting in the way of those, perhaps?

[blackheartsgirl]

We've got one in our garden in some raised stonework surrounding a manhole cover. They've been there before some years ago and didn't cause us many problems except it's right where the kids play and I peg out the washing. Bee bloke I phoned said to temporarily place a brick over the hole when the kids were in the garden but remove it asap when they go in, they seem to be really dosy at the moment and only seem to come out when we cut the grass so I'll leave them be for the moment

[ProcrastinatorGeneral]

I miss our nosy bees. We had white bummed ones nesting two years in a row. They're like toddlers, constantly following you to see where you're going and what you're up to:o

[Notasinglefuckwasgiven]

Love bees, you're so lucky! DP and I feed them and let them go when they collapse exhausted from pollinating and being bees here's a beauty on his hand to warm up. Makes me all gooey when he carries them round the flowers until they select one to jump on

[cozietoesie]

[cozietoesie]

My cornflowers look to start flowering next week. I can hardly wait for the big bee fest.

[shovetheholly]

I have nectaroscordum in flower at the moment, alongside deutzia, and the bees are going absolutely mental. The former (which is an allium) is particularly fun, because the flowers are like little waxy bells exploding out of a firework and the bees get right inside. The shape amplifies the noise - so you can really hear them buzzing ecstatically. It's lovely.

[cozietoesie]

I don't know those two, I'm afraid. We have somewhat chancy weather so I have to go for the ones I know and which will survive and prosper.

[shovetheholly]

Yes, it's hard to know what to expect weather-wise as a human at the moment, let alone as a plant! Cornflowers are gorgeous. I love them, but they like more sun than I can give em!

[ElizaBB]

Aprilskies is quite correct. They are probably tree bumblebees. Honey bees like homes the size of a beehive ! I am a beekeeper and most of us "Beeks" wouldn't move a bumble nest. They won't be there long. We had a nest in the soffit next to our back door last year, and had to duck down to avoid being flown into. They'd gone by September and haven't returned. Tree bumblebees love bird boxes as they are just the right size. I can't really see from your photo, but that's the most likely sort. Enjoy them, you are lucky to have them.

[tartiflette]

Ok I have a positive id on mine, they are definitely nice friendly bumbles and are coming in and out under the soffit above our bedroom window.
Can you bee experts reassure me that they won't burrow into the bedroom (!) or create a massive hive that will damage the roof?
And why are they so bloody noisy at night?!

[EveryoneElsie]

If you have a local wildlife group they might be able to advise you or offer an alternative site plus a volunteer to move them.
Bumble bees do sting and you dont have to live with them if you are allergic.

[enjoyingscience]

We've got a nest in the bird box in our back yard - it's fairly busy with comings and goings, but no swarming at all. The bumble bee conservation website suggests they are tree bumbles, and that the males who swarm can't sting.

It's a lovely thing, and we're very glad they decided to live in our garden!

unlike wasps, who would be proper dead by now. No mercy

[cozietoesie]

Lucky you, tarti.

You should be fine - and this guidance might prove reassuring. (The bit about 'Nests in other places' especially.)