To ask neighbours to move beehive?

[stripesandspots10]

My neighbours are backed onto the back on my garden with a thin bush dividing us. They have a huge garden but have placed the beehive right where our gardens join. My garden is much much smaller and I've been getting alot of bees coming into my garden and through the windows. WIBU to ask them to move it considering they have a huge space and could put it somewhere else that isn't practically the back of my garden!

Definitely NBU.
I like bees but not in my house.

You can ask them but sadly they don’t have to move them.

A local primary school has an issue at least once a summer with bees swarming on the path into School from a neighbouring house and can do nothing about it

You can ask but they don’t have to. From experience, They would have to move if after dark if they can. Full they can weigh 150Kg

Full up to 150kg! I doubt he could do it alone I think they are quite elderly! I have a feeling they will say no too.

The thing is it's tricky with bees - once a hive is established if you move the hive more than three feet but less than three miles, the bees will usually reorient themselves to the old location and usually will build themselves a new hive. It's a total pain. My FIL is a beekeeper and had this exact issue. Your neighbours should have been a lot more considerate in the first place I'm not really sure what you could do to resolve it. You could ask them to try moving it and hope that the bees don't rebuild in the same place but I don't know how amenable your neighbours would be, given the risk.

Oh no pun you are joking!!!

They have an absolutely massive garden so I don't know why they decided to put it there!! It was there when I moved in last year. I could build a fence but then it would still be there on the other side!!

I wish I was but it's true! My FIL put his hive up in an area that he then decided was too shady but he couldn't then move the hive. Although his bees all subsequently died due to a parasite and he could move the hives then - drastic but a possible outcome!

I really feel for you. I don't like bees at all and I would hate to have them right at my garden.

One solution might be to plant something hedgy that will grow quite thick? Or even your suggestion of a fence might minimise the problem because at least they won't just be coming through a thin bush.

Your neighbours sound very thoughtless!

They’ve put it there so the bees don’t come in their house!

OMG - I wouldn't be wanting the beehive moved - I would be wanting to move house !!!!

blacker yes not into theirs but into mine instead! So thoughtless of them

Bees don't generally forage in the close locale of their hive, normally between 0.5 - 3 pm from the hive. So the bees in your garden may not be from their hive. If they are, it will be most likely they are looking for water - if you can remove any water sources with a gently sloping edge then they will visit you less.

I suspect the neighbours will have put their bees against a fence because of the shelter it gives rather than because they are being inconsiderate.

I agree with the above comments about the difficulties of moving a hive. The only option would be to move it 3 feet in the direction you want every few weeks, or to move it offsite for a few weeks before moving them back to the new location. Which won't be easy

pm = km

An option would be to see if a screen of other tall item can be put a few feet on front of the hive entrance. This will encourage the bees to fly to a greater height when leaving the hive and discourage them from entering the nearby gardens.

I'm a beekeeper.

You could ask them to turn the hive through 90 or 180 degrees so that the entrance faces away from your hedge.

A fence would help a bit because the bees would be forced to fly up and over, rather than coming straight through the hedge, so their flight path would be higher. But it wouldn't stop them flying in through your windows!

The 3 feet / 3 miles thing is true, but you can do a gradual move, e.g. 1 foot every couple of days.

Have you spoken to them, do they know its causing you a problem?

Cross post with stompy!

There are bee specialists who could advise on moving the hive, but maybe the owñers might have to pay to have it moved. Otherwise maybe plant a row of leylandii which would probably screen most of the bees out

You could always put fly screens on your windows?