Neighbour - Bee keeping

[PBicecream]

Hello - looking for some opinions as I know nothing about bee keeping.

We live in a semi-detached house, town centre, with a “postage size” garden. Honestly the garden is tiny, as is the neighbours. Today, our neighbour mentioned in passing that she has 4 bee hives that she will be installing in the garden soon. This evening, I looked out my upstairs window and indeed, she does appear to be setting up said hives.

I am a bit worried about how this will impact us, especially in the spring and summer months when we use our garden. There are 2 hives up against our fence. Literally 1meter away from our patio doors. Is this allowed? I honestly don’t know what to expect or how to approach this.

Any advice or information welcome.

Thank you

Check if your local council has rules on keeping animals.

But regular honey bees shouldn't be a threat in the way that wasps are. unless anyone has an allergy

My beekeeping neighbour explained that the bees fly upwards and away.

If there is a fence between you they will go upwards.

Bees are good!

My neighbour has about 10 hives, it's never been an issue.

They shouldn't give you an issue. Bees aren't aggressive, and will only defend themselves if threatened.. Just leave them alone

We have a super hive 40cm from our bedroom window. (Not through choice I may add) ... been there 6 years and NEVER been as issue at all. I wouldnt worry.

Thank you so much - like I said, I have no knowledge on this, so appreciate all the responses. I will stop worrying. 😊

How lovely! And by that I mean both her plans and your response. Enjoy the bees!

Good news if you are a gardener!

One of our neighbours has three hives. Never been any bother. I like knowing they are there - we need more pollinators not fewer.

My dad kept bees. They never disturbed the neighbours. The neighbours would have felt comfortable being honest with my dad, so the fact they never complained indicated that they were unbothered.

unless you're standing right in front of the entrance to the hive they won't bother you.

MIL has a hive in her field. Her property is 4 acres though. Never had an issue- UNTIL, a 2nd queen was born. I don't know how common this is, but in 6yrs so far, its only happened the once.

The 2nd queen went to a tree nearby, and all the bees got stirred up and tried surrounding her. The house is a fair distance from the hive, but bees were coming into the house, getting trapped in the curtains and one decided to fly into my hair and sting my head! It was really awful.

As said, this might be a rare thing and the rest of the time, absolutely no issues at all.

part of keeping a hive is removing the queen cells

If she is experienced you will be absolutely fine. Beginners often struggle with hives swarming a lot in April and may but even if you did get this, they are very docile and only interested in the queen. It looks a bit scary but you could literally pick them up and stick them in a cardboard box.

It should be fine. I kept bees. They tend not to like the smell of grass cutting, especially if you're using a diesel lawn mower (a little electric flymo would be fine though), and can be unhappy in very thundery weather. They fly above head height, so will only be lower down if going to a flower, water, or hive. If you have a pond then you might find they use it to collect water, but if they do your neighbour should be happy to add a shallow tray or bird bath on her side of the fence.

I'm not sure if your post was directed at me in relation to removing queen cells?

MIL doesn't manage the hive. A local lady put the hive on her land in return for x amount of honey per year and a small rent. If the woman should be removing queen cells, I'll mention it to MIL to ask her about this. Thanks.

I looked into bee keeping in a similar space to your neighbours and the perceived wisdom is that bees need more space than the average garden can offer so I decided against it.
The last thing I want to do is upset my neighbours or put their children at risk from bee stings.

Oh I'd love this. My grandma used to keep bees and the honey was so so so much nicer than what you get in the supermarket.

My neighbour had hives in his garden with no previous experience and we had several instances where a large swarm appeared in the garden and I took the children indoors as they were very little. He ended up rehoming the hives.

The bees won’t bother you, they’re not interested in people.
The world needs more bees. If any do buzz about your garden and you have kids,, teach them to stand still whilst the bees are nearby and not scream and wave their arms about.
I envy you. Ask your neighbour if you can watch whilst she collects honey, it’s fascinating.

Honey bees and their behaviour is fascinating. I did a short course to learn about them. How they find their way around is amazing. If you are lucky your neighbour might give you some honey!

Obviously in the greater minority but I am absolutely phobic about any insect in a yellow and black striped jacket. Just the sight of them brings me out in cold sweats and I feel physically sick even from just seeing them on the TV.

Sorry I would be terrified! Would be speaking to anyone I could to stop this or I would have to move.

I'm asking this as a genuine question and not to be goady, but who do you think you would speak to about this and what justification would you use? Do you think you would be reasonable for example, to ask the council to ban your neighbour from bee-keeping because you have a phobia? Have you sought help - it must be difficult in warm weather if you are outside?

Yes sorry it was. Bees largely swarm because there is a new queen and so they follow her. Bee keepers should be removing the queen cells.

This isn't mean to be goady but have you actually been stung by a bee?

It hurts, sure but it's not significant pain and its very short lived. We're not talking broken bones or childbirth levels of pain

Dear God @haufbiskiy I do everything in my power to ensure one never gets near me

When I say terrified I REALLY mean it. My DH could tell you a few stories.

Have I ever been stung??? Just the thought is giving me palpitations. 😨