Bees and bats

[Povester]

Our bedroom is on a platform up in the eaves of our house. There are bats and bees living in the roof.

We are renting the house, with a view to buy. The bats and bees are not bothering us (now that I am used to the fluttering in the night). I know the bats are protected. Are the bees? Is there any reason why we shouldn't all live happily together?

[MKG]

Bees are not protected (but they damn well should be ). Whether you can live together is mainly a question of where the bees get out of your roof space. If it's not via your bedroom, you're perfectly OK.

It's nice that you asked the question. A lot of people would have simply exterminated them. Good for you!!

Mike

[Povester]

The odd bee is escaping into the bedroom but the landlord has "fixed" the problem with masking tape, I'm sure we can do a better looking and more efficient job. They generally get directly out into the fresh air without bothering us.

The house has been empty for quite a while so the bees and bats were here long before us. I expect they are wondering what on earth are the big lumpy things the other side of the wall (especially the one that snores).

Will they be making honey in the roof? I know nothing about bees.

Thanks for the reply, Mike.

[MKG]

Depends what kind of bees they are, really. Certainly, if they're honey bees, that's exactly what they'll be doing. Our medieval forebears moved heaven and earth to get bees in the roof for precisely that reason. Risking the wrath of a honey bee swarm (they were avidly collected) seems a bit daft if you're getting nothing out of it.

But even if they're not honey bees, ALL bees are in trouble. Any help you can provide gives you loads of bee brownie points

Mike

EDIT: I may have given the wrong impression - if they're in your roof and if there are more than a handful of bees, they're about 99.9% certain to be honey bees. Generally speaking, they'll ignore you up to the point you go prodding about within the nest.

[Povester]

Now I feel blessed :)

[Millymollymandy]

However, when you have a honey bee nest inside your stainless steel chimney flue blocking it so that you can't light your wood burner, and you are putting dozens of the bloody things dead and alive outside all day long, the lovely buzzing sound of bees that is so enjoyable in the garden starts to get rather irritating in your living room.

Can't find any firms which will come and deal with it for us as they are few and far between and I expect the answer will be that they wil have to be killed as I don't know how any bee keepers will get them out of an 8m tube which goes up inside my chimney stack!

[MKG]

I hate to say it, MMM, but that's one of the few situations where you simply MUST get rid of them. If you don't, then you're eventually going to have honey dripping down your flue. Sounds nice, but it's a fire risk.

Mike

[Povester]

The bees are starting to sneak into the house more regularly. My youngest son got stung on the weekend so we really need to patch up their entrance. He was fine but was very sad to see how the bee died after stinging him.

[MKG]

Well, that confirms that they're honey bees, Povester - they're the only species which dies after stinging.

And yes - get the internal entrances patched. New workers are hatching right now, and you need to give them no choice but the external entrances. Bee stings can hurt - give him a pat on the head from me.

Mike

[British Red]

Povester, Your local Bee keeping association will probably re-home the swarm (take it away and put it into a hive) if you ask them - generally free of charge (well its free here although a small thak you donation that goes the cost of running the association is always welcome). Once they get the queen into a new home, the workers and drones will follow.

Its certainly a service that the Lincolnshire Bee Keeping Association offers. I really like their attitude which is "Bees swarm because bee keeprs keep bees. Its up to us bee keepers to sort out any resultant problems". They see it as PR basically - plus they get a free swarm - although the chap I know generally re-queens them with a more docile queen less prone to swarm.

Red

[Povester]

Thanks Mike, will do. And thanks, Red for the suggestion about the Bee Keeping Association. I never thought of that, I'll look into it.

Cath

[Povester]

As a townie who has lived in the country for all of eight weeks I am surprised every day by the creatures we are sharing our lives with. The bees only get into the bedroom occasionally which is ok but when the bats started coming in that was a bit of a shock. We think we have blocked up their entry, it will soon be obvious if not. We deticked the dog last night having finally worked out what the weird lumpy things were. And we're enjoying watching the tadpoles turning into frogs. I'm not sure I'm happy about the latest resident I found sharing our home. I think it was a mouse I saw very briefly in the kitchen, I'm hoping it wasn't a rat.

So, we're going to start cleaning up a bit more of an evening (the dog is often left to "hoover" the floor and we don't always do the dishes, and perhaps the compost stuff should be taken out every night...) but does anyone have any other tips for getting rid of mice. Any one humane trap better than another?

Should I have started a new thread...?

[Mustardseedmama]

As a townie who has lived in the country for all of eight weeks I am surprised every day by the creatures we are sharing our lives with. The bees only get into the bedroom occasionally which is ok but when the bats started coming in that was a bit of a shock. We think we have blocked up their entry, it will soon be obvious if not. We deticked the dog last night having finally worked out what the weird lumpy things were. And we're enjoying watching the tadpoles turning into frogs. I'm not sure I'm happy about the latest resident I found sharing our home. I think it was a mouse I saw very briefly in the kitchen, I'm hoping it wasn't a rat.

So, we're going to start cleaning up a bit more of an evening (the dog is often left to "hoover" the floor and we don't always do the dishes, and perhaps the compost stuff should be taken out every night...) but does anyone have any other tips for getting rid of mice. Any one humane trap better than another?

Should I have started a new thread...?

I don't know about the new thread question, but you're not really "initiated" into country living until you have found a rattlesnake sunning himself on your front patio (Kidding of course, but it happened to me!).

[Millymollymandy]

I hate to say it, MMM, but that's one of the few situations where you simply MUST get rid of them. If you don't, then you're eventually going to have honey dripping down your flue. Sounds nice, but it's a fire risk.

Mike

Sorry I missed this reply. We did manage to get someone out and he had to poison them. Now we have to wait several months for the nest to dry out before we get the chimney sweeps in so that we can use the wood burner again in the autumn. He did say it was very unusual for them to make a nest inside a flue and it was only the 2nd time he'd ever seen it.

Wasn't much of a fire risk Mike as the fire was completely unlighteable, due to the flue being totally blocked!

[MKG]

Oh, oh, oh - an opportunity!!! Now then, young lady, did he say "Ce n'est pas normal" or did he say "C'est pas normal" or whatever the French word for normal is (but I think it's normal). I only have schoolboy French, which is tres formal, and I've never believed that's the way the French speak. Am I right or wrong?

Mike