Beehives in neighbours garden

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Moved into a new house. I am unable to see the neighbours garden due to the layout. I discovered a few weeks after moving in they have two beehives. Already I have seen two massive swarms of bees. Thousands of them for two days. Had to close all the windows and doors. If you've never seen a swarm before it can be terrifying when it's right by your house.

The small pond has around fifty around it at any given time. Already I'm thinking having a medium sized padding pool up for the kids is going to be a no-no as I'd rather not have dozens of bees hovering about using it as a water source.

Also, the woman told my DH that they get irritated by noise and that on one occasion when their son shouted something, her husband was stung a dozen noise. Where the beehives are is metres away from a children's play area to was insitu when we moved in. Already although my child is a baby I'd be terrified of letting her play down that area where the swings are as all young children can make loud unpredictable noises from time to time. Oh she also told me that we would need to get rid of a tree as it attracts bees.

So what are you going to do, OP? Make the neighbours get rid of them? How long are you planning to live there?

I'd worry about the bees drowning in the pool.

I might still feel bad about it happening to a couple of bees in our paddling pool.

My beekeeper neighbour told me that you only get swarms if you don't know what you're doing. There can only be one queeen and you have to regularly inspect the hive to remove any new ones. If you don't then the hive will split and swarm in order to find a new home for the new queen. Fine if you're out in the middle of nowhere or have an empty hive waiting for them. Not so fine in an urban garden.

🤣🤣🤣
Typical MN, completely hysterical and total lack of reading comprehension!
Where did BananaShrimp say it was illegal, call it a major crime or mention reporting to the police?
She simply said the council probably have a policy about it 🙄

A shallow dish with stones in it, filled with water, is a good thing to have in your garden if you have a pool for the children. Bees & wasps would much rather drink from the shallow dish than your paddling pool as they won't drown.

Bees are extremely valuable to our environment but why are people being so flippant about the OP's concerns? I can understand why they would be worried about their child.

We have hives. Honestly, I would not want them in a small garden next to neighbouring houses. Ours are in a massive 2 acre field (on a farm with no near neighbours). Bees are great. But I think people saying it's not an issue have limited experience around large hives with lots of bees. They can be bothered by loud noises. You do have to be mindful of not walking in the flight path. In the warmer months, we have to give them a wide berth walking the dog. They'll just run right into you as there are hundreds coming in and out all the time. Dh and I have both gotten them stuck in our hair.

That's not to say they aren't lovely and really important for maintaining the health of our ecosystem, but I think they can be problematic if very close to neighbours in built up areas. Honestly, I personally wouldn't want hives in a neighbouring garden. That's why ours are pretty far from where children play and where we are out enjoying the garden.

I understand your concerns but they are misplaced. Unlike the aggressive mutant ninja zombie killer bees so beloved of Hollywood, your basic bee will die if she stings, so she needs a pretty good reason to do so. She is also too busy to bother with humans. The trouble tends to arise when the humans don't return the compliment.

Re paddling pool: it's way too deep for the average bee to drink from as she risks drowning. The advice to get a bird bath is good; one with sloping sides or stones so bees can access the water without getting their knees wet would be ideal and divert the bees.

Re swarming: this happens but once a year and happens when new queens hatch to go on their mating flight before founding a new colony. Think student rag week. A lot of swarms are queenless and will quickly dissipate as it is the queen who keeps them together. The worst that can happen is that they spend a night in your tree before moving on the next morning.

Contact bbka.org.uk, The British Beekeepers Association, who can send a friendly local beekeeper to remove any swarm or fix you up with your own hive to keep you nice new swarm in. And indicate to your neighbours that a jar or two of honey will help you cope ... BTW swarms tend to be collected in the evening as most of the bees will be in one place. During the day they'll be out foraging, or looking for lurve if tbe queen. Tbey are like gold dust to new beekeepers.

Good luck!

PS should you happen to be near Luton I could help.

hi - to everyone saying that honey bees (the commercially farmed ones) are beneficial to the environment - actually that's a myth. They are not:

www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-honey-bees/

They destabilise natural eco systems and are killing off other types of native bees.

*When I say "commercially farmed" I mean the type that people keep in hives in their garden as well as commercially.

Bees have always stressed me out (irrational, I know) but I would put up with this because they are so bloody important for our ecosystem.
There is a hive v close to our urban garden and so there are a fair few around and I think over time I’ve grown used to them and flap a lot less…it’s nice to see them so their work.

Another with bees in a neighbouring garden, first time I heard a swarm I thought it was a helicopter, incredible sight though.

theyve never been a bother, even with friends noisey kids in the garden, we are near an industrial area so lots of machinery noise, again, no bother.

Bees on the whole are utterly fascinating, I’ve been part of the mason bee project for years, and have been lucky enough to have bumble bee nests over the years. They do need mud which may be why they are visiting the pond, as it’s been so dry lately it’s been a real struggle for them.

it sounds like you have a bee keeper issue not a bee issue!!

your garden sounds wonderful, I’d really suggest you get in touch with your local wildlife trust, they do some fantastic events with children to educate them and you, about what’s there, how to help it and how it fits into our world.

Speak to your ndn, tell them ideally you want to live in harmony with the bees but have some concerns and could they help you with them, ask them about swarming and the story from the other neighbour and their child. They are hopefully knowledgeable responsible bee keepers and can make suggestions to you or if they dont realise the bees are causing you a problem resite the hive in their own garden.

If they are not receptive to discussions you could try the bee keepers society for advice.

The bees won't bother OP's child. Bees leave humans alone.

You’re not being unreasonable at all. I had a friend with the same problem and her husband had been stung quite a few times (at the same time I mean). I imagine they’re less likely to leave someone alone if they’re near to their home. I’ve seen a swarm too….we had one on our fence post when we lived in the countryside. They’re huge and then there are lots of bees flying around them.

Also although the honey bee is important, it’s wild bees that are far more important. They’ve evolved to pollinate specific plants. So say you have an orchard, it might take ten specialised bees to pollinate the whole thing whereas it would take 100 honey bees. I’m not a bee expert obviously….I don’t know the exact figures….I just read a FB article!

I’m pretty sure none of our neighbours has bees (titchy gardens) but we once still had a swarm in a tree right outside our bedroom window. It was fascinating and did no harm. They soon took themselves off once their ‘scouts’ had found a desirable residence elsewhere.

Sorry to hear that but I found your post fascinating. Bee poo on washing!

I wonder if the tree issue is just a crossed wire. Some trees and shrubs like Buddleias for example are magnets for bees - maybe she was suggesting if you want to discourage bees in the garden you take down bee attracting plants- which would be a shame.

We have bees next door suburban area- and haven't had any issues apart from them bumbling their way into the conservatory quite often, But they are easy to gently shoo out

Have they had them for long ? My ndn had some they swarmed another time they left the hive. He said they were too much trouble and gave up

Agree with this

Once they have swarmed and settled you'll not hear a peep out of them.

Ask your neighbour to put an additional accessible extra water source in her garden for them.

Yes to the bee poo!! It makes me smile whenever I’m cleaning it off windows etc!!
they are just brilliant little creatures

I haven't RTFT, but can you find out what type of bees they are? Some are more agressive than others

hive bees (honey bees) are bred not to be aggressive.

Over the past couple of years, we have had bees nesting (is this the right word?) in one of our birdboxes. They are fine and don't bother us, but can any bee types tell me if this is usual?