Hoping some experienced person may be able to advise.
My neighbour had a swarm arrive in her garden last Tuesday. They started to settle in a rather awkward location about 20 feet up on the cornice under the guttering of the first floor of the house. They went under the roof tiles and she could hear them in the eaves. The odd one or two were somehow getting into the house. At this point they were busy but not aggressive. She 'phoned the Beekeeper's Association for advice and got a number for the chap who heads up locally. He said he couldn't help so she got another number, then another, all not able to help because of the location they said. Finally on the fourth call she got some chaps from about 15 miles away to come and look at the situation. They came at 8pm that night in the hope that the bees would be more settled. They did a very stupid thing (Even I know that you shouldn't do this and I've NO experience of bees) and climbed up with a receptacle and managed to get SOME of the bees in it. Some of the remainder went down the drainpipe adjacent and the guy that went up the ladder was stung several times through his suit! What they should have done I suppose was leave it there for all the bees to hopefully occupy it and come back the next day. They were apparently young and very amateur at beekeeping but they did at least come when no-one else would. They took these bees away and then the trouble started. The remaining swarm started to get very angry and attacked. We are presuming that the queen was taken in the collected batch? Another chap came along the next evening and tried to look at what could be done but the bees are in such a difficult place and seemingly without their queen. He said the only option would be to destroy the remainder which, again, is going to prove tricky as they are all under the roof, around the guttering and down the drainpipe. They've even started coming down the chimneys into the house and she can hear them in her airing cupboard. This man said the remainder numbered around 20,000. He got stung too without even going up a ladder to see them, just by being in the vicinity. The other problem is the pond life nearby. We both have ponds with fish and apparently if any dying bees fall into the water then the fish could die too. He went away to think of what else can be done but, so far, has not come up with any fresh ideas. A council affiliated pest exterminator is coming out on Monday to tackle the situation. In the meantime these bees are just getting more agitated and she's finding it difficult to safely exit the house, attend to her veg garden etc. They will, she's been advised, die out within a few weeks, but it's a long time to just sit tight and be essentially trapped in your house.
Topic: Feral Bee Swarm (Read 5351 times)
