Bumble bee hive in my wine barrel!

K

Kaya

Senior Member
Location
Northern Cali
I planted stuff in that barrel last year and thought the bumblebees just liked my choice of flowers so I never really paid much attention. Until yesterday. I was watering like I always do and just stood there, looking at them buzzing around...then noticed they were ENTERING the barrel from the bottom. Lightbulb moment. My dog grazes the lawn around that barrel...I have leaned on it while watering...hubby does his scrapping no more than 5 feet away from it. They have never been aggressive, but now that I know they are there...I am all paranoid. Seems the last bee sting I got caused some problems and and I have developed an allergy to bee stings. I dread what could happen if a bumble bee zapped me. And my dog? Shudder at the thought.
I went out there this morning to watch them again..at a safe distance...and could actually hear them buzzing. LOTS of them in that barrel. Oodles of big, bumbling bumblebees with swords on their butts!

So...I called a few places and I have two people I left messages with that remove bees, free. The local college wants them for pollination...but that is for BEES. These are BUMBLE bees. So, I wait to see if they still want them. I don't want to kill these puffball guys with numerous stingers...they do pollinate and have a smorgasborg in my back yard. But I also want them to go away.

Ack!
 

Wanna swap? the neighbor had a hornets nest right up by the gutter,I used the 5 foot can spray to distroy it.
If nothing works getting someone to remove it,just go to Loews or Home Depot and get the spray can,its works from 5-8 feet away.
 
Kaya, That was kind of you to try and find an alternative method of removal. Most people would just kill them. My father, and his father had hundreds of hives that they would set out in the local farms every early spring. I loved watching them, from behind a protective hood. They never seemed to bother my father or grandfather. :hide:
 

My grandfather lived on a farm and enjoyed making his own wine from elderberries that grew on his property.
He constantly had problems with bees all around his wine barrels. There must be something about wine that they are attracted to.
If you live in an area where there are beekeepers nearby, try giving them a call.
They may be interested in taking your bees, or they may be able to offer you an easy solution to ridding your garden of them.
 
If these are those huge bumble bees, they may be the kind that drill holes in wood. They are called Carpenter Bees.
We have had them here, too, and they are really congenial, at least as far as bees go. I have had one fly right up in front of my face, and just seem to stare at me, and then he just buzzed off.
They will drill little round holes in wood, but other than that they are not a problem, and will not likely sting you. I have never really tried to provoke one to see if they get mad, but just having them flying and buzzing around the shed out back, they have not ever been a problem.
As long as they are just in the flower barrel, they should not be a problem, but if you have older wooden structures, you might want to look for the holes in the wood.
Here is an article and a picture, so you can identify if you have carpenter bees, Kaya.
http://www.colonialpest.com/services/carpenter-bee-control-removal-in-massachusetts-new-hampshire/
 
Bumble bees are now gone. Found a guy on CL that came and took the whole wine barrel...plants and all. There are about 25 or so bees still out there looking for their nest but its gone so eventually they will leave and find new homes. I hope.

Meanwhile..the dogs and I plan to avoid the back yard for the rest of the day and evening and hopefully they will be gone tomorrow. He pissed them off, lol. They didnt attack...but they were buzzing around his head and there were some REALLY big ones! Good thing he had his bee suit and his smoker.
 
HappyFlower...they are not carpenter bees. They are those big black and yellow bumble bees. They were not in the ground at all...just as I suspected. They were underneath the barrel in the space between the ground and the barrel itself. So he smoked them, plopped the barrel on a piece of wood to seal them in from underneath and hauled the whole shebang off to his property. He said he wants them because he loves bees and bumblebees and they help polinate his orchard. So..I am a happy camper. I feel bad for the ones still out there buzzing around the tree, but they might start another colony...hopefull somewhere else.
 
I'm glad you found a solution to your problem, Kaya, and especially proud of you the way you handled the whole thing... I believe if you spray the area with white vinegar a couple of times a day for a few days, it is supposed to discourage them from hanging around...so hopefully they will go "in Search Of" a new location! :)
 
When we bought this old place no one had lived in it for over 15 years. So the Carpenter Bees had been making it their castle. Carpenter Bee only come out of their holes in the the oak and pine wood in the spring and fall. Luckily most of our house is made of cedar logs and blanks.
The first few years it was like an invasion of the killer bees. The away to get rid of them is to mix a powdered insecticide with wood putty, and a little brown paint. When you notice that it seems like the pests have gone, they have not, theirs in hibernation. That's when you fill their holes with the mixture. As they eat their way out, they eat the poison. It took years to whittle them down. We still see a couple now in then.:blah::blah:
 
I just got back from outside....there are about 15 left...most have moseyed on. One buzzed around me, and I told it I was sorry but I couldn't take a chance with so many of them. Maybe he/she understood..maybe not. I hope they find new shelter before it gets too dark. :(

Now I will sit here and stress of some bumblebees that will be ok all by themselves until they hook up in a new nest. :(
 
Ack. There are about 8 to 10 left out there that are diehards. Or...those coming in from the neighborhood ready to settle down in their nest and its gone. I squirted some apple cider vinegar out there...then tossed fresh dirt on the spot where the barrel was...trying to remove the scent of their hive. I will check tonight when the sun is completely down to see if they are still hanging out or moved on.
 
I feel bad. Really bad. :(

I should have let them stay.

http://www.buzzaboutbees.net/bee-nest-removal-bumblebee.html

Bumblebee nests only last for one season...from late spring to October-ish. Then they abandon it. They also are very docile and probably would not have hurt my dogs...or me. But I didn't know this newest info until a bit ago...after I had the guy remove their nest. I was out there, worrying about those left and they are trying so hard to find a place to sleep now that it is dark. Under tufts of grass, in the tree between leaves, even in the dirt where their nest was. There are only about 8 left out there...and they are homeless now. And probably will die because the queen left in the guys truck, still in the barrel. Unless they can find another queen.

Dammit. My ignorance on this is just horrible. So..I pass this info along to you guys. And tomorrow? I will get another pot and put it where the other one was. Maybe the ones left will use it for protection from the night elements.

Damn I feel awful.
 
AIEEEEE!

They are back! I swear there are like 50 of them out there....in a mound over the place the barrel was...and flying all over the lawn and up in the tree that was next to the old barrel. Sigh. PILES of them everywhere. Looking for a new home I guess. And...I am betting they had a backup queen. Or she didn't go with the old barrel. I can't have oodles of bumblebees wandering my yard, so...I have them another barrel. I had a spare one that was empty, so I rolled it over there, told them NOT to sting me cuz I had a new house for them, and plopped it upside down over one brick so they had a way to get in. And...they went in.

I figure if they are going to insist on staying, I need to condense them to one spot. Once they get re settled, I will block off the barrel with chicken wire so none of us get near it and they can live here along with us...but behind a protective area and a reminder to us to not pass their chickenwire fence. Its either that or kill them and I feel bad enough about yesterday so that ain't gonna happen.
 
Yes, I was going to mention the folks that will come and take care of it. They want the bees/honey. I never thought about bumblebees though, so I will google it to find out how much like honey-bees they are??

I took photos of the people that came in their "bee" protective outfits. It was really interesting although I don't have the photos, or at least I don't know where they are now. This was a "swarm" literally. I'd never seen one. They were like "landed" on some branches etc. Maybe I can find a similar pic:

bee swarm01.JPG
 
Yeah, you need to get those folks out there. Usually they bust ass to get there, the honey is worth a lot. Just keep away, and your dog, keep him outa there Kaya. Those folks will surely show up. Did you look up bee-farms, or whatever they are called? Call the people directly?
 
Oh good, I read more of your thread and see someone did come. They should dissipate now I would think. Wonder if there is something "safe" you can spray around to keep them away? I was reading some things about insect repellants that are animal-safe, and used to remove certain insects without killing off others or your plants.
 
They are not bees. They are BUMBLE bees. No honey. Nobody is interested in coming out here to help. The yard is jammed with them and they are even crawling on my screened windows. On the lounge chair, on the backyard swing, on the lawn, in the trees. EVERYWHERE. I called 3 pest controls asking what to do...they all said leave them alone, remove the new barrel, let them alone until they get the drift their nest is gone. So...I am stuck in the house, slider door in the doggie door because I don't dare let my dogs out there, and when I want to be outside, I have to go out front. The back yard is now off limits due to the HUNDREDS of bumblebees out there.

I am quite frustrated.
 
Well...this morning, they are STILL out there. I'm sad to say that I have been killing them when I can. I am not proud of that...but I am fed up. These guys are bullheaded and refuse to leave. So....when they land..I squash them. And I swear they know I am because today they have actually chased me if I dared go out there for any length of time. One even followed me into the house. And they bump against my window screens. That is how many there are! I know some think there are a few out there and I am being a chicken...but it is not just a few. It is at least 50 of them. More than when the barrel was first removed. They are in the trees, on the lawn, banging against my house. Everywhere. It's not "normal".
So I read tonight that if I sprinkle garlic powder where they are insisting on hanging out...they will go away. I went out there with a flashlight and poured a huge tub of garlic I had in the cabinet, all over the area. My yard smells like garlic now. And I saw some hiding in the grass...so I squashed them. None of them collect in a clump. They all hide in different areas until the sun comes up. It's really weird behavior. And dangerous because I don't have an epi pen, and my dogs could get hurt just walking on the lawn to go pee and wind up stepping on one. The dogs don't even want to go out there now, either.

So if this garlic thing does not solve the problem by Monday, I will be calling pest control and have them come spray the yard. Enough is enough.
 
Again,there is a very easy cheap effective way to get rid of those bees,the can spray is at Lowes,Home depot. You are standing 5-6 feet away when you use it.
Just spray at their old site and surrounding area and they will be gone.
Killing them one by one will not get rid of those bees. The pest control will work with THEIR chemicals that stays on the ground for days,you want your dog smelling this stuff?
 
I have never ever tried to kill actual bees, even the huge carpenter bees, but I have had to get rid of hornet or wasp nests before.
What we did was wait until dark, when the hornets were all inside the nest, and then we either burned the nest (when possible to do this safely), or we sprayed the hornet killer spray right into the nest. A few of them tried to escape, but with us spraying them, they could not get out very well, or died when they did, and since it was dark, they could not see to sting me.

It is sad that you have to get rid of your bees , but I can see that if they are all over your house and yard, and you are afraid of being stung by the ones that do have a stinger; then you do not have much of a choice.
 
Davey Jones said:
Wanna swap? the neighbor had a hornets nest right up by the gutter,I used the 5 foot can spray to distroy it.
If nothing works getting someone to remove it,just go to Loews or Home Depot and get the spray can,its works from 5-8 feet away.
Click to expand...

A few years back I had to have this removed from a vine. I didn't even know it was there, until they attacked me one day..It is now hanging on my porch as decor.


hornetlastyear-1-1.jpg
 
Davey Jones said:
Again,there is a very easy cheap effective way to get rid of those bees,the can spray is at Lowes,Home depot. You are standing 5-6 feet away when you use it.
Just spray at their old site and surrounding area and they will be gone.
Killing them one by one will not get rid of those bees. The pest control will work with THEIR chemicals that stays on the ground for days,you want your dog smelling this stuff?
Click to expand...


The thing is, that kills the good bees as well..Right?
 
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