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Original poster

It would appear the I have some mortar bees - what to do?

27 replies

CuddyMum · 22/05/2014 08:25

There are a handful of them halfway up my house and some hanging around a section of wall in the garden.

Any advice would be most welcome. Thank you.

OP posts:
Danielle81 · 22/05/2014 09:14

Watching your thread as I have a similar problem. My dh has decided to nail a bird house to the IDE of my wall and now bees are nesting in the rid house.

PigletJohn · 22/05/2014 10:05

How old is your house? Is it brick with lime mortar?

MillionPramMiles · 22/05/2014 10:50

Yup we have the same problem. Sadly we had Rentokil get rid of some that were just by the front door as I was worried about dd getting stung (especially as she tried to grab them). They sprayed something that made the bees go nuts (so we didn't leave the house for 12 hours). Then we found a pile of dead bees :(

We then sealed up the holes. However there are so many holes in the brick we still have lots of bees elsewhere.

NaturalBaby · 22/05/2014 13:45

We have a few as well. I'm leaving them as long as possible as they're not a nuisance (unlike the wasps nests we keep finding in the eves).

Original poster
CuddyMum · 22/05/2014 15:43

House is brick and mortar 1891 Victorian. I'm worried they will cause long term damage as opposed to being stung (they seem quite gentle). Wasn't sure if councils dealt with them or like Million if I ought to get Rentokil out.

OP posts:
hellymelly · 22/05/2014 15:47

Mason bees don't sting, none of the solitary bees will bother stinging you- there is no point. They are completely harmless and lovely, and won't damage your house, they only go into holes that are there. You could hang up a special nest box if you are that bothered about the walls, but most old houses will have them. I love mine!

hellymelly · 22/05/2014 15:53

So please don't get Rentokil out! Poisoning harmless wildlife is horrible, they are good flower polinators for a start.

PigletJohn · 22/05/2014 18:28

I don't think I've ever seen mortar bees. You could sell tickets, and put the money towards the next repointing. I believe they can burrow out old lime mortar, which is much softer and more crumbly than "modern" cement mortar.

GerundTheBehemoth · 22/05/2014 18:35

This is one of the most common mason/mortar bees we have in the UK - the red mason bee Osmia bicornis (old name Osmia rufa). They are extremely cute and make extensive use of the 'minibeast hotels' on my local nature reserve.

It would appear the I have some mortar bees - what to do?
hellymelly · 22/05/2014 22:40

I love leafcutter bees too. I check my roses for the tell-tale cut out circles and feel happy if I have them.

cat88 · 23/05/2014 09:21

I seem to remember reading that masonry bees come back to the same holes/nests so once there its best to leave them? Otherwise they need a new nest?

hellymelly · 25/05/2014 20:33

Yes they do nest in the place that they hatched. There was just a piece on Countryfile about them actually, and how important they are. Do not kill mason bees (please).

ManWithNoName · 25/05/2014 20:37

I have them above the back door. We replaced the roof last year and removed the nest but they have come back this year.

hellymelly · 26/05/2014 23:16

They don't have a nest as such. They are solitary bees. They lay eggs in the holes in wood or walls, and the bees hatch the following year. They don't have a nest where they are all together.

Pannacotta · 27/05/2014 08:30

Please don't kill them bees are very previous and under threat (sure you know that already).
Contact a local beekeeper if you can find one for advice.
I would just leave them alone.

lighteningirl · 27/05/2014 09:03

Pleased to find this thread we have just moved into a new home (run down 20's bungalow and have seen a bee regularly using a hole in the wall on the terrace will try to identify it now and watch that countryfileepisode too.

lighteningirl · 27/05/2014 09:03

Pleased to find this thread we have just moved into a new home (run down 20's bungalow and have seen a bee regularly using a hole in the wall on the terrace will try to identify it now and watch that countryfileepisode too.

WillieWaggledagger · 27/05/2014 09:05

we have solitary bees nesting in the eaves just by the back door. i love them, and they have never come close to stinging anyone

Gatekeeper · 27/05/2014 09:09

we have all sorts of bees nesting in various things on the house and in garden and they all slope off in the autumn without causing a ha'porth of bother. They are charming to watch and the carpenter bees we have seem to like watching me garden as they hover for a look.

Please just leave them

jimblejambles · 27/05/2014 09:12

We have about 10 bees flying round the corner of our roof do you think they could be masonry bees? As they are high up I want to leave them alone but dh is freaking out in case they get in the house. I am assuming if it was honey bees there would be a lot more

jimblejambles · 27/05/2014 09:12

Mortar not masonry

Gatekeeper · 27/05/2014 09:38

they could be mortar or masonry bumblebees but highly unlikely they will be honeybees. Next door has a about 20 of them living in the tiles on his porch; they return every year but never cause any bother and are extremely unlikely to sting. They are wonderful creatures; these ones have big orange bums.

lottiegarbanzo · 27/05/2014 10:27

We have them in a chimney, probably is old lime mortar and I think over time they may cause a bit of damage by burrowing. Not a pressing concern yet.

They come down the chimney into the house, in the dining room and the baby's bedroom. Hmm. No stinging, main issue is buzzing and dying on the floor if we don't let them out the window in time. We've blocked the fireplace chimneys with newspaper, some still get through, next attempt, chimney balloons.

Solitary bees do not make nests, they burrow individually, so anyone with nests to remove does not have masonry bees.

WillieWaggledagger · 27/05/2014 11:16

i meant 'nesting' as in 'living' - not literally creating a nest. they are definitely solitary bees

i can see them going in and out from the kitchen window - i like watching them while the kettle boils. the eaves they nest in are right above a window that is often open for ventilation, and they never go inside

WillieWaggledagger · 27/05/2014 11:18

ha - i did it again

the eaves they live in