[Jen]

their nesting in my compost bin!!!  went to put some stuff in
and heard this very loud buzzing, the door at the bottom of the bin
isn,t shut tight and there's loads crawling about in there.
would really appreciate some advice how to move them on,
don't want to harm them...just get them to go some-where else.
their not honey bees unfortunately...the bumble kind.

hope some-one can help, to be honest i'm quite scared of them.

jen

[gobs]

Bumble bees don't hurt and they are in decline, I think they might even be protected, but can't recall for sure, they are also important pollinators.

Couldn't you just move the 'bin' and let them bee, sorry.

[Jen]

sorrrrry i should have said that it's not my lottie compost bin,
it's the one at the bottom of the garden, a bit to close for
my way of thinking, yes bees are in trouble big time some old boys
on the site have hives, some have died of a nasty desease and
others have swarmed and left. we're all growing extra flowers to
help? i really do try to help wild life(sept slugs -snails) just don't want
the critters that close to my sun-bathing!!
   
jen

[Ruby Red]

They really are gentle creatures and dont set out to hurt. My dad used to catch them in his hands and let them go when they were in his greenhouse. Try not to worry.  

[Zak the Rabbit]

best advice is learn to enjoy them. Bumbles are lovelly creatures to watch. The reason most people dont like bees is the buzz. Remember though that the buzz of a bee is the same thing as the buzz of an aeroplane! its just the sounds of the air being moved to make them fly.

I would leave them there, and enjoy watching them. Why not try and see if you can work out which species you have, or if there are more than one?

[WirralWally]

Jen,
Have a look at the following article which may well have been written just for you.  
It answers all the points you raised.

http://www.kentbee.com/faq-bees.htm

(Copyright © Peter Hutton)

[Jen]

thanks so much for replys, and yes i'm leaving them bee   sorry gobs,
i read the article WW and like you say it answered all my questions, there really isn't any need to be scared.
i shall watch and learn.    :study:

jen

[poultrygeist]

You are so lucky Jen !

I think we have some nesting in one of our shrubs of all places.
Wonderful creatures. See if you can get some photos to post up.

Rob  

[lincspoacher]

weve had one or two of the bees that nest underground, in one instance there was a nest under the conservatory. We would watch the bees coming and going ,we figured there was only about 200 bees in the whole thing. It was very interesting, as the sun set you could count them back in and next morning count them out! Sometimes they would wander into the house, i'd just let it settle on my hand then take it outside. Ive never been stung  yet.

Bees are a 'system critical' component of the biosphere. If there were no bees, plants would not get pollinated and reproduce. Food chains that had plant eaters at the bottom would collapse and mass extinctions of millions of species would follow. Really, im not trying to scare you..........

[deedee71]

we had a problem the other day, the shrub outside our window at home was chosen by loads of bees, i'm not exagerating, there must have been 100 - 200 bees just flying around and around. They were very good natured bees, my husband managed to get the queen on the side of a bucket, and after a few hours the bees were mostly on there too, and he walked along our local orchard with the stray bees still following. They came back the next day for a few hours, but dispersed eventually. I do like bees and wish i had a few at the allotment, but these guys were just too many. I've never seen anything like it. They were nice docile bees.  I hope they're happy in the old orchard  

[sclarke624]

I took this picture in my garden 2005.  Cuddly little fellas aren't they.  Hope the close ups don't scare ya, that is not my intention.  Just showing off me pics.







sheila

[deedee71]

looks like they're wearing sunglasses    :roll:

[growmore]

I hate flying insects, wasps etc.  but bumble bees are different. They are actually very friendly and if I find them on flowers on my plot I quite often stroke them - very gently - they seem to like it and just sit there. You might like to try it but be gentle and dont go near their sting or touch their wings, just very gently stroke the fluffy back while they are taking pollen and usually they just stay there enjoying it!

[love-my-plot]

Bees featured in our local paper this week when they decided to gather on a gable wall  :shock:

[Jen]

wow, fascinating little critters aren't they, love the pics
will try and get some..not today tho. pouring with rain.
not sure about the stroking, they might be able to sense
a bit of fear.  we did watch them moving dry material around
the base of the bin, i can see this being a real time waster, still
better than tele.    

jen