Help me solve this bee mystery

[crochetmonkey74]

This morning, for the third morning in a row I came downstairs to find a large very buzzy (noisy) bee in my living room on the floor. It was very drowsy. I put it outside gently , but there's been another one each morning , three in a row . What is happening? They are not bumble bees but very large.

Do you have an open fireplace? Hairy-footed flower bees tend to nest outside chimneys and sometimes fall down. We had loads last year around February time and a few this year. They like primroses too.

They have been hibernating in your house
We get dozens (14 open unused fireplaces

Sugar solution- pop in sunshine
They are massive- like a pom pom

They're queen bees, they've been hibernating as a previous poster said.

Definitely check your chimneys - we had this a couple of years ago.
Our chimney isn't in use and fireplace is decorative only, so I got some black silicone and filled the tiny gaps they were coming through.

I have got an open chimney actually, and the hibernating makes sense as they are very sleepy

Give them some sugar & water mixture if you can.

Exactly the same issue! They really are like pompoms and so sleepy they can't fly!

Dining room and bedroom share a chimney so makes sense why it's been in both of those rooms!

Thanks OP solved the mystery I should have paid more attention to!

@AwkwardPaws27

Definitely check your chimneys - we had this a couple of years ago. Our chimney isn't in use and fireplace is decorative only, so I got some black silicone and filled the tiny gaps they were coming through.

Not an environmentalist then Do you also have fake grass?

@KosherDill

Give them some sugar & water mixture if you can.

Will do, should I put it on a little saucer? Put the bee outside with the sugar and water so it can get energy and fly off? Or give it the sugar and water in the house?

I scoop a teaspoon of sugar, pour some warm water over it and put the spoon outside with the bee. If it's cold I also fill a little tub with warm water and put the bee on top to warm them up.

Make sure the bee is super close to the sugar water so it knows its there. I tend to put it like right at their face.

Assuming you're in the UK, bees won't fly if the temperature is under 8-10°, so if you're putting them outside on a chilly day please find them somewhere cosy so they can shelter until it's warm enough.

This week I've noticed so many huge bees outside my window and they fly right in to the glass and make some doink!

Watch their tongue unfurl to drink the sugar water.

@TheHoptimist

They have been hibernating in your house We get dozens (14 open unused fireplaces

Sugar solution- pop in sunshine
They are massive- like a pom pom

How big is your house?!

They're young queen's, just let them out and they'll do their thing. You're lucky, I usually get young queen wasps. Not threatening but still a bit unnerving.

We found a little hole in our exposed stone wall they were getting in through.

How big is your house?!

14 room big? there is a fireplace in the hall and then each room including 2 of the bathrooms.

Aw! This is kind of sweet, big pom pom sleepy bees.

I'd have loved that, instead I got a yearly wasp nest in my last place!

@Gizacluethen (Love the name!) how does the tub thing work, is it like a wee tupperwear with the lid on?