any bee keepers here ? (1 Viewer)

pappajohn

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walking past the RV and noticed a bee disappearing into a hole in the fridge flue cover on the roof.

been up and removed the cover but there is a wire mesh built into the flue casing...definitely not removable....but cant see a nest or whatever bee's have.
could be lower down the flue but cant get at it either up or down without removing the whole fridge (remember this is American and as big as most folks side by side fridge/freezer at home) or removing about 10 tubes of silicon sealer to remove the roof vent...the yanks arent afraid of using silicon to extreme.

need suggestions as to getting the little flying buzz saws out and keeping them out.
 

PP Bear

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Bee patient, it'll soon buzz off:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

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Daveo2006

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Dont worry about them honey,they will soon buzz off:roflmto:
 

Daveo2006

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You could try making a bee trap and positioning it where you think they might be going in.Can you hear them in there or is it just one or two you think?
 

ourcampersbeentrashed

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you want them out asap. Dont do it yourself as if you agitate them too much you will suffer. They can find the nest wherever you move the motorhome too as well.

Use this website

http://www.bbka.org.uk/

Advice for swarms is here

http://www.bbka.org.uk/help/do_you_have_a_swarm.php

The website may be able to point you to a local beekeeper who can help you.

Good luck
 
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pappajohn

pappajohn

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You could try making a bee trap and positioning it where you think they might be going in.Can you hear them in there or is it just one or two you think?

no, cant hear them but they will be behind the fridge freezer and that arear is extremely well sealed with expanding foam.

i reckon there are a few in there, 10's not 100's, as when i took off the top cover i had half a dozen or so come out to see where the sudden burst of light was coming from.

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ourcampersbeentrashed

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you want them out asap. Dont do it yourself as if you agitate them too much you will suffer. They can find the nest wherever you move the motorhome too as well.

Use this website

http://www.bbka.org.uk/

Advice for swarms is here

http://www.bbka.org.uk/help/do_you_have_a_swarm.php

The website may be able to point you to a local beekeeper who can help you.

Good luck
 
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One of my chums has a 'wild' bees nest in one of his out buildings, A local apiculturist visited and located the entrance and place a 'transit' nest over it and within a couple of days they moved over.
 
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pappajohn

pappajohn

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you want them out asap. Dont do it yourself as if you agitate them too much you will suffer. They can find the nest wherever you move the motorhome too as well.

Use this website

http://www.bbka.org.uk/

Advice for swarms is here

http://www.bbka.org.uk/help/do_you_have_a_swarm.php

The website may be able to point you to a local beekeeper who can help you.

Good luck
how about 82 miles away gail......:roflmto:

going to Misterton next weekend regardless, and the fridge will be on gas until then.

any nest there is in there is completely inaccessible without major dismantling so a bee keeper/swarm collector wont be able to do anything other than offer advise....but i'll ring the local guy anyway.

the mice were bad enough but i see these being a nightmare. :Sad:

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It sound unlikely that a swarm have taken up residence as you would certainly hear them and there would be a steady stream of bees leaving and entering. They could be scouts looking for a suitable site for a swarm that is hanging up somewhere in the vicinity. Alternatively it could be solitary bees looking for a site to lay eggs.
Either way if you have any concerns get some wasp and bee insecticide and sprinkle some at the entrance. That is all a pest control person would do and charge £50 for 5mins work.
 
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pappajohn

pappajohn

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It sound unlikely that a swarm have taken up residence as you would certainly hear them and there would be a steady stream of bees leaving and entering. They could be scouts looking for a suitable site for a swarm that is hanging up somewhere in the vicinity. Alternatively it could be solitary bees looking for a site to lay eggs.
Either way if you have any concerns get some wasp and bee insecticide and sprinkle some at the entrance. That is all a pest control person would do and charge £50 for 5mins work.

if they were scouts would they repeatedly enter and leave....only 5 or 6 at most at any time.

as there are so few i reckon the hole will be patched up tomorrow evening....cant take a chance on a colony settling in.
 
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If you can try sticking a rag in the vent with Jays fluid on it ,we used to do it with wasp nests it suffocates them
Alan

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grasscutter

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Although everyone is trying to protect bees sometimes they are sadly in the wrong place as yours are. As Sid52 said you could use an insecticide .
Don't tell everyone but for wasp nests we use ant powder. It contains either permethrine or bendiocarb. Just sprinkle some at the entrance and they will take it into the nest. 12 -24 hours and the problem is solved.:thumb:
 
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It sounds more like a bumblebee nest John and unless it will cause a fire risk then just leave it...they wont bother you....read this Link Removed

I consider myself very lucky at the mo because I actually have two in my garden....

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Apr 22, 2013
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Hi,

You don't appear to have anyone claiming to be a beekeeper, so may I be the first.

There are lots of different sort of bees and they have many different life cycles, so without identifying the the species its difficult to guess what is going on in your flue.

However one common feature of bees is that they survive by foraging. Therefore when the weather is reasonable, above 10C and not raining, you would expect to see regular comings and goings, if you aren't seeing this the odds are that there is nothing in there.

Honey bees, what beekeepers keep, live in colonies each colony may have 50,000 bees. It is swarm season now where to reproduce at a colony level, half the bees and the queen fly off to start another colony elsewhere. You may have saw a scout bee looking for somewhere to do this, but it would soon move on as the space would be to small. At least two cubic feet of space is needed. A good swarm can weight a kilogram and you get an awful lot of bees to the kilogram::bigsmile:

I could talk for England on the subject of honey bees, boring everyone silly:ROFLMAO:

Gordon
 

Daveo2006

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My Dad has 3 hives and 2 years ago lost 2 lots of bees for no apparent reason.A week after he lost the 2nd colony he had a swarm appear on an apple tree in his garden (not his bees) and another colony swarmed on a nearby neighbours tree both of which he managed to keep until last year when he lost the lot.
 
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pappajohn

pappajohn

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Hi,

You don't appear to have anyone claiming to be a beekeeper, so may I be the first.

There are lots of different sort of bees and they have many different life cycles, so without identifying the the species its difficult to guess what is going on in your flue.

However one common feature of bees is that they survive by foraging. Therefore when the weather is reasonable, above 10C and not raining, you would expect to see regular comings and goings, if you aren't seeing this the odds are that there is nothing in there.

Honey bees, what beekeepers keep, live in colonies each colony may have 50,000 bees. It is swarm season now where to reproduce at a colony level, half the bees and the queen fly off to start another colony elsewhere. You may have saw a scout bee looking for somewhere to do this, but it would soon move on as the space would be to small. At least two cubic feet of space is needed. A good swarm can weight a kilogram and you get an awful lot of bees to the kilogram::bigsmile:

I could talk for England on the subject of honey bees, boring everyone silly:ROFLMAO:

Gordon
thanks For that Gordon....very informative.

I had no choice but tape up the hole this evening, after 1/2hr just one bee trying to get out and around 10 trying to get in.
I'm no expert but I would think some kind of panic signal would be present when they couldn't get in or out, alerting the rest of the nest.

Have I caught this early or doesn't it work like that ?

The bees are slightly furry, almost black with a large very dark red/Brown spot on the back and a white 'tail'

Forgot to mention....the fridge flue opening is around 16" x 8" x 48" tall so is well big enough.

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pappajohn

pappajohn

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It sounds more like a bumblebee nest John and unless it will cause a fire risk then just leave it...they wont bother you....read this Link Removed

I consider myself very lucky at the mo because I actually have two in my garden....

as it's in the fridge flue I can't take the risk of it getting big enough to cause a blockage. We spend most time off grid so the fridge is almost always on gas.
 
Apr 22, 2013
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thanks For that Gordon....very informative.

I had no choice but tape up the hole this evening, after 1/2hr just one bee trying to get out and around 10 trying to get in.
I'm no expert but I would think some kind of panic signal would be present when they couldn't get in or out, alerting the rest of the nest.

Have I caught this early or doesn't it work like that ?

The bees are slightly furry, almost black with a large very dark red/Brown spot on the back and a white 'tail'

Forgot to mention....the fridge flue opening is around 16" x 8" x 48" tall so is well big enough.


Are they "white tailed Bumblebees"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_bumblebee

By their location these are sadly pests. With a heavy heart I think you have little choice but to destroy.

Gordon
 
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pappajohn

pappajohn

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Although everyone is trying to protect bees sometimes they are sadly in the wrong place as yours are. As Sid52 said you could use an insecticide .
Don't tell everyone but for wasp nests we use ant powder. It contains either permethrine or bendiocarb. Just sprinkle some at the entrance and they will take it into the nest. 12 -24 hours and the problem is solved.:thumb:

well, that did the trick....thanks for the heads up :thumb:

Didn't have any ant powder but we bought an aerosol of ant killing stuff in Spain Spain's couple of years ago.
Turned off the gas and allowed to cool then emptied almost the full can into the vent....kept a little back for self defense against those still outside.
Within half an hour the bees inside had stopped moving and those threatening me on the outside got a quick spray and dropped out the sky within seconds.

Checked again tonight and no evidence of bees at all now.

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pappajohn

pappajohn

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well, that did the trick....thanks for the heads up :thumb:

Didn't have any ant powder but we bought an aerosol of ant killing stuff in Spain Spain's couple of years ago.
Turned off the gas and allowed to cool then emptied almost the full can into the vent....kept a little back for self defense against those still outside.
Within half an hour the bees inside had stopped moving and those threatening me on the outside got a quick spray and dropped out the sky within seconds.

Checked again tonight and no evidence of bees at all now.

Sounds like overkill:roflmto: but successful none the less.
Keep an eye out for the next week or so as there may be some bees still developing in the brood nest These may emerge in the coming days. Without the queen they can't develop further but may make a nuisance of themselves.

I endorse the use of ant powder, available at all good pound shops. For wasp nests if you can setup a piece of cardboard so they use it as a landing board, cover with ant powder and the wasps will trample it into the nest.

Gordon
 

Scout

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well you sure made them BEEhave:ROFLMAO:

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Geo

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You can tell if there scout Bees John
They carry a SC 05 OUT registration and have little woggles:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 

ponyboy

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i've kept bees and the first thing you need to do is to see how much in and out traffic there is, especially on a sunny day (they might have all grown old and died by then ha ha) I wouldn't recommend poisoning them - just see how much traffic there is first and I'll keep an eye on your posts.
 

Geo

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i've kept bees and the first thing you need to do is to see how much in and out traffic there is, especially on a sunny day (they might have all grown old and died by then ha ha) I wouldn't recommend poisoning them - just see how much traffic there is first and I'll keep an eye on your posts.

Me thinks there dead already courtesy of Adam Ant Killer:Eeek:

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