Repelling ground nesting bees

[MissStegosaurus]

I've got a nest of bees which has dug into soil at the base of a wall outside my back door. I need to repel them quickly because we are due to lay a path over it this weekend. How can I get rid of them quickly without killing them?

Oh no!
I don’t think you can, because the queen (if any)!and larvae will be inside. You could be kind and leave the hole open till autumn?
Some bumblebees start their hibernation as early as June.
Is it bees or bumbles?

They're not bumble bees, they're quite small and waspy looking but they've got furry bodies. They don't seem to be aggressive and i like bees so i don't want to kill them but the path has got to be laid this weekend, so we will have to dig down and put down hardcore so the nest will get destroyed. Would rather have the bees move out first! Ive only noticed them there this week so hopefully they havent settled in too much?

Are they masonry bees?

Are they miner bees? They are solitary but live in the soil in the ground.

They look more like miner bees.

It looks like they're going into a few different holes in the soil but a few of them are sharing one big entrance but seem to have their own tunnels. Purely speculation of course as i can't tell one bee from another!

Leave them alone and they will leave you alone.

Some are protected -honey bees and it's illegal to touch them.

I had some under my cottage once and it was huge -with dogs, animals etc everywhere. My local bee keeping acc came out and identified the bees and we left them alone and they left us. Bees are in huge decline. They are not agressive -leave them be!

I know, that's why i don't want to kill them and want to know if there's a humane way to move them on. If they are miner bees when can i expect them to leave?

The poinf i

Sorry

OP cares about the bees, it’s just a dilemma with the planned works.
I’m not a bee expert but according to the Dave Goulson books the entrance tunnels are often several metres long and even experts digging find it very hard to find (bumblebee) nests.

Thank you @Harebellmeadow

Dh has agreed to humour me and wait a few more weeks to lay the path. when i went outside to see if i could identify them i saw two of them band together to defend their nest against a third. I ended up standing there watching the fascinating little creatures for about 10 minutes If they were aggressive i might not feel so kindly but they've made no wrong moves against me or my toddlers yet.

The work does need to be done probably during early june at the latest though so im open to any suggestions of when they might move along or if i can encourage them on their way!

Good on you for trying to relocate them!
I found this link bees

Suggestions include:

• relocating very large chunks of earth to a similar aspect/position in the garden to encourage the bees to abandon the current nest

• raking over the area repeatedly in the days/weeks prior to the path being built

• flooding the site with a hose to encourage an exodus

I'm not sure how you prevent getting stung! Do you have any bee experts locally? Some sources seemed to suggest ground bees would be on the move soon anyway?

Source a local bee expert. They might have a way of getting them to a more suitable habitat.

Thanks both, that's very useful info @GingerKitCat. If they were just a couple of metres further up they wouldn't be a problem. Ill check online for any local bee experts.

Do you really need to dig, or are you having the patio/paving redone, in which case a solution could be found where no deep digging is required. Could you then attach temporary tubes to allow the bees to keep flying in and out.
Is there no way the work could be postponed till the autumn?

The path that we've taken up was really poorly constructed so to do a good job we do need to lay a proper base for it which will involve some digging. We need to do it soon really due to a health issue for one of my children - she can't be around loose/damp soil and of course in nice weather all she wants to do is go outside so she's going past it numerous times a day.