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There are over 250 kinds of bees in Britain. The honey and bumble bees live in colonies and belong to a group known as Social Bees, but the majority of other bee species do not live in colonies and are Solitary Bees. Bees are extremely useful insects, which have a valuable role in pollinating flowers and producing food. Many bees, like the bumble bee, masonary bee, mining bee, are an endangered species and it is important to consider whether the bees are in a location that will cause a real nuisance or that they can be left alone, as many solitary bees have a short life cycle (6-8 weeks) and most bees will only sting if they feel there is a threat to their nest i.e. someone gets too close. Bees within a house can be a nuisance. The problem often occurs, especially if there is a chimney, when the bees nest becomes dislodged and young bees fall down. Unable to fly vertically, they either have to crawl back up or more often than not feel the draught from a vent/fireplace and enter rooms. First and best solution is to open as many windows in the room to let them out. Then it is probably best to contact a beekeeper to smoke them out as soon as possible.
Social Bees Honey Bees They are brown and yellow in colour and smaller than the bumble bee. They are the bees kept by beekeepers in hives for their hone and wax. Their numbers can vary from 40 - 50,000 at the height of the season (July). Those born at the end of the summer survive over the winter on stored honey. Generally, if not in hives they will live in hollows such as trees, but may establish themselves in a wall cavity. They usually only really cause a problem when they swarm, which is normally due to hive overcrowding. The bees emerge in a dense cloud headed by the queen, settling on a branch or tree. Scout bees will go in search of a new location to start a new colony. Honey bees feed on nectar and are not normally considered a pest, only stinging under extreme provocation and/or protecting their queen.
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Bumble Bees Larger and rounder than honey bees, they will often build small round grass nests under buildings, in mouse holes in the ground, in bird boxes or air vents. They do not swarm nor do they sting unless the nest is disturbed. If at all possible, bumble bee nests should be left undisturbed; at the end of the Summer all bumble bees except the queen will die and the nest abandoned. If the nest is in the compost heap this will be a bumble bee nest not a honey bee nest and will die off at the end of the Summer; bumble bee workers are smaller than the queen.
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Solitary Bees Masonary Bees Their colouration is very similar to the honey bee. They prefer to make their nests in suitable cavities in buildings and will even excavate soft mortar from brickwork to make their individual nests. Even though solitary bees, the nests are often grouped together to produce large numbers of insects and although harmless in all other respects, the damage to soft mortar in older properties especially may be quite severe over several seasons. Therefore, masonary bees may need to be controlled on occasion by repointing with good hard mortar; killing these bees is illegal. As their stings do not seem to be able to penetrate human skin and they are beneficial pollinators and predators of garden pests, control should be avoided wherever possible.
Mining Bees Again they resemble the honey bee and the female will tend to nest in pencil sized holes in lawn borders, especially if it is sandy and often grouped together like masonry bees. They can cause a minor nuisance until they disappear in mid-summer, but like the masonary bee their stings are unable to penetrate human skin and they too are beneficial pollinators and predators of garden pests, thus control should be avoided.
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