To Bee Or Not To Bee
A couple of weeks ago, on a fine warm summer’s day, we were sitting out on the patio enjoying a spot of lunch. The gentle gurgling of the river. The occasional disgruntled moo from one of ‘The Ladies’ in the field on the other side of the valley. The twitter of birds. Bucolic peace.
It was Mike who heard it first. From out of nowhere it seemed there came a mighty buzzing. We turned toward the direction of the sound to be faced with something quite surreal.
The entire chimney above was gradually becoming smothered with bees. A swarm. Within seconds it was impossible to even see the bricks, just a writhing mass of the insects clinging to every surface. As we watched the air around the chimney filled with bees as wave after wave continued to arrive. Over the next few minutes the bees found their way inside the chimney, largely through the ventilation holes in the pot. Gradually the density of bees, on the chimney stack and in the air, diminished. Along with the intensity of the buzzing.
Three years ago the same thing happened. Back then though we hadn’t seen the bees arrive so hadn’t realised just how many of them there were. They nest in the left half of the chimney, the part which used to serve the bedroom fireplace but has long since been blocked off. The chimney pot on the right is the top of the flue for the sitting room woodburner.
When we had the chimney rebuilt a few years ago the builder recommended leaving slits in the brickwork at the bottom of the stack to allow rainwater to drain from the lead plate which covers the main portion of the void below. The bees use these as their back door.
So what to do?
Although the bedroom part of the chimney stack is supposedly blocked off there must be a gap somewhere as the more adventurous bees have found a way through. I have peered up the chimney from inside the fireplace and can see no daylight at all, the gap must be tiny but it is definitely there. We periodically remove dead bees from the window sills and the floor. It isn’t as bad this year, so far, perhaps they are still settling in. Last time around Mike actually got stung – early one morning a bee crept into the folds in the duvet cover on the bed. And we have had to get back into the habit of wearing slippers everywhere – having checked the inside of them first!
The bees enter the second part of the chimney stack too.. straight down into the woodburner, the door of which is staying firmly shut. Watching Gardeners’ World on a Friday night now has an entirely new dimension: are the bees we can hear buzzing in Monty’s Jewel Garden or is the sound coming from inside our woodburner?!
Had the bees returned in these numbers last year we’d really have had a problem, for most of last summer there was no woodburner. The chimney was completely open to the room in the midst of the sitting room renovations. Perhaps, like me, the bees had decided that all the noise and disruption was just too much. Or, and equally understandably, they didn’t care much for the builders’ taste in music. Either way, they had the option to go off and find a more peaceful place to rest.
Three years ago, about thirty seconds after Mike got stung, he started looking for solutions.
Neither of us wanted to harm the bees. They have a hard enough time as it is. But what I feared was that the trickle of bees in the bedroom would one day become a very large number, perhaps early in the morning after first light but whilst we were still asleep. Something had to be done. At first it seemed there was an alternative. We found a local company which would attempt to relocate the bees by luring them into an alternative hive. But there was no guarantee of success and the service, which took place over a number of days, cost hundreds of pounds.
Getting a man in with a ladder and a toxic spray obviously costs far less. Although still in three figures. Fortunately for the bees (and our consciences) when the man turned up and had a look at it he declared the nest to be six inches higher than his ladder would reach and thus, for insurance reasons, he would have to decline the work. We decided to hold off and just hope for the best. As it turned out the rest of the summer passed uneventfully. We continued to sweep up dead bees but there was no further incident.
Now, however, they are back.
As a temporary defence we’ve purchased a chimney balloon which inflates to fill up the void. It is primarily designed to stop air draughts coming down the chimney but I’d hoped it would suit our purpose too. Now that we’ve got it I discover it has a ventilation gap which we’ll somehow have to seal. If the bees can manage to find a hairline crack in the brickwork mortar they’ll have no trouble with an inch wide hole. Perhaps, with a judicious bit of duct tape, we can once again peacefully cohabit until it’s time for them to leave. Provided they go before the insurance deadline to get the chimney swept..
Are there any bee people out there with a better idea? Any thoughts gratefully received.
And as if the bees aren’t enough.. even the wasps have moved in now too.
I give up.
Oh, goodness. I am of no help whatsoever. We just have the problem of flying ants invading our home every July. All I can say is that your beautiful home must be far too welcoming to these insects and word has got around. Let’s hope nothing else arrives!
I am waiting for the flying ants. They don’t come inside the house thank goodness but there are plenty around the garden. I had to laugh yesterday though. A blackbird was pecking at one of the nests and clearly got ants in his feathers. There was much dragging of wings and tail on the grass in an effort to remove them. It did look uncomfortable. But those ants must be seriously worth it – the blackbird just came back for more time and time again, even chasing off rivals to get more of his fair share.
Ugh. As someone who is allergic (epipen always on hand) to the little darlings — wasps/yellow jackets, this is not a sight that warms my heart. Good luck finding a solution for a non-toxic way of getting rid of the bees. The wasp nest you can take out in any manner–the sooner the better–with my blessing. In US we usually wait until almost dark and spray a wasp nest whilst all are “home.” Then wait a day or two and remove it.
The wasps’ nest has survived a lot longer than I thought it would, Mike hates wasps too. It seems like desecrating a work of art but I fear it will have to go.
I quite like bees, so I’d be going for the barrier method as much as possible and leave them to it. Of course that’s easy for me to say, my troup of mining bees live in the soil of the front garden and only come out in September to buzz around at a low level and make adorable bee balls before disappearing for another year.
The plan is to leave the bees if we can. If they stick to their place we’ll stick to ours!
We don’t have a cowl on our chimney – or any other protection apart from jackdaws attempting to nest – a few curses up the chimney and hand claps seems to do the trick. We have had bees but I think the rain or the wind is not a pleasant thing to hang around while the labourers come along with their skills to build the nest. We always know because they come down the chimney and I have to open the windows to let them out. It might be a pit stop to shelter until the queen finds a better spot? They are not around for long. On the bright side there are no wood pigeons or jackdaws yelling!
And wasps! Nope, you really don’t want that nest! I’ve seen a fair few queen hornets this year – love the sound but do they make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck!
When we were living up country, and both out at work all day, our burglar alarm was centrally monitored and linked to the police. One day I had a call at work saying the alarm had gone off, the police had been called and there was a jackdaw flying around inside the house. Took ages to chase the wretched thing out. And the mess! I assume it came down the chimney as there wouldn’t have been any other way.
Jackdaws look small until they come down the chimney and, well, get in a flap! Then the soot gets everywhere. On the bright side, they’ve cleaned it for you on the way down! We will be getting some sort of protection on ours, as the wind does come down the chimney in the worst weather even though the bottom is blocked when the fire isn’t in use.
Summer’s back for a couple of days.
The soot and the poop! I can safely say the jackdaw got in a flap 🤣🤣
Choose wisely .. in that last house the fire never drew properly again after we changed the pot arrangement on the top of the chimney.
Thank you – that hadn’t even crossed my mind.
Us neither. I just went to a reclaim yard and got a couple of nice looking terracotta pots. Might be worth getting some advice for your particular chimney first.
We are going to visit the wood burning stoves place next week and thanks – I’ve made a note to remind me as I’d forgotten! Isn’t ageing wonderful – you forget the important things but trivialities are always there! No extension this year because that blooming virus is making materials hard to get, but at least the barn groundworks start in August . . . I hope. So we thought we’d make a start in the living room. It’s OK decoration-wise but time to make it ours – and more energy efficient.
Our sitting room (and dining room) is still a shell, it also needs cosying up – a job I have earmarked for over winter. It’s probably for the best that you delayed the extension, with threats of a second wave etc. I am thankful every day that the virus didn’t appear at the same time last year.. when much of the ceiling was held up with acrow props and with months of work still to come.
When we had a swarm of bees a few years ago, I contacted our local bee keeper who was delighted to get a free swarm. He came straight away and collected approx 4,000 of them into a cardboard box and then drove home with them in the back of his landrover! Yours would not be as easy to collect as mine were but it would be worth contacting your local bee keepers to see if they can help you.
Rather him than me! That’s a good idea Pauline, thanks.
I hope you find a solution.
Thanks Derrick.
I’m afraid there is no easy way of removing bees from a chimney, and anyone who suggests they can somehow lure the swarm out is mistaken. The only way to remove bees from a sealed void is to break into it, so if you want to get rid of them destruction is the only option. I can understand your reluctance to do this, but honeybees, because they are managed and kept by beekeepers, are actually doing pretty well compared to bumblebees and solitary bees. If destruction is the only option, you don’t need to feel too bad about it.
Generally bees will not bother you in the same way as wasps, for example they won’t be hanging around your picnic, and if you can find out how they are getting into your bedroom and seal up the gaps then you could coexist fairly happily with them. I assume that the space they have gone into is not in a roof void or something like that, because after a year or two you can get honey dripping through the ceiling, which is not ideal.
As long as there is an entry space in the chimney for the bees to come and go, you are likely to get another swarm occupying the space even if you destroy this one. When I say ‘entry space’ a gap of a few centimetres is enough. It’s obviously a good space for them, and it will smell of wax and honey. If you do destroy them, you need to seal up all the gaps to make sure that no other bees can come into the space, they will be attracted by any honey that is left and may then carry poison back to their own hive.
In short, unless you can seal up all the possible entry points, including the rainwater drains, you are likely to get a swarm again in future. It might be better to focus on closing off any access points to your bedroom so they don’t wander in there, and just live with them. It’s unlikely that you will suddenly get a huge stream of bees in the room, the ones you have found have just lost their way. Bees are very focused, their objective is to get out and collect nectar and pollen and they’ll usually take the most direct route (bee line!) to where they want to be. Good luck.
Hi Athene. Thank you for such a considered and helpful comment.
I too am concerned that the bees will be very difficult to lure out of the space they are in. We will attempt to live with them for as long as we can but we’re also thinking of asking a local beekeeper to come and have a look. Maybe there is a way we haven’t thought of, or perhaps the chimney space isn’t as difficult to access as we think it is. The fact that we’ve had repeated swarms does suggest that it will be hard to eradicate them forever. If the builder’s advice at the time of the chimney rebuild was sound then it wouldn’t be a good idea to seal up the space either. It needs to be ventilated or we’d end up with condensation problems in the future.
Contact your local Council, they have a list of Beekeepers who will be happy to help, often for little or no charge.
You could contact your local Council who will have a contact list of beekeepers who would be happy to assist, often for little or no cost.
That’s a really good idea, thank you Peggy.
Aye yai yai! I’ve seen bee swarms in my garden when a hive splits but, luckily for us, the bees have always followed their new queen elsewhere. My last swarm sighting occurred a year ago outside my hair salon, when in a manner of minutes bees covered a car parked just outside. In that case, the car owner called for assistance and the police called a bee expert, who vacuumed up the bees in order to move them elsewhere, all before my appointment was over. Relocation is now the norm here. Your swarm is entirely too close for comfort. There have to be other beekeeping organizations that can offer assistance or guidance. As to the wasps, as they can sting many times (which I’ve discovered personally), I no longer have any hesitation about spraying them when they’ve the gall to attach themselves to the house. We had a wasp in our house earlier this week and sprayed him with a bleach cleaner, then sucked him up with the vacuum cleaner. Good luck!
I’ve only ever seen bees covering a car in the movies.. that must have been quite a sight. Imagine if you were inside the car at the time, terrifying.
Mike once got stung by a wasp taking washing off the line. He said it was in a pair of my undies. How dare it!
Glad to see that you are using bleach appropriately..
Removing bees would be a tricky one, but I know in Australia bee keepers seem to move bees around the country-side in an amazing way…perhaps a local bee keeper could help. We had a nest of wasp quite close to the house, so we got someone to remove it. However, the following year they were back in bigger numbers, to exactly the same spot, and this time we had someone come and spray the nest. We didn’t want to do it, but with small children around, we could not see an option second time round.
It’s worrying to hear that wasps come back as well. Certainly I’ve never seen the bees in such numbers before. They must have brought all their friends and relations with them this time!
We used to keep bees, and had a couple of swarms one of which ended up in an empty rabbit cage which the chickens were using for their roost. Lester trying to get the swarm out of that cage into a box is a well remembered memory. Asian hornets killed all our bees eventually. I have no advice to give you, but I would be hard put to destroy them. I love those little creatures and find them fascinating. I am sure you will find the right solution……..
I’ve heard about Asian hornets and bees. Bees are lovely creatures and seem to face so many threats currently. I can spend hours waiting for the perfect photo of a bee on a bloom, I lose track of time it’s such a peaceful and restful thing to do.
Could they be enticed out? Into a very attractive form of bee-housing? It might lead to honey….
I don’t know Henriet, we will try and find out. I have a horrible feeling they think they’ve already found an attractive form of housing!
https://www.bbka.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=bbee6581-dd54-4906-8e17-417e44c1332e
British Beekeepers Association has registered swarm collectors who will help if it is safe for them to do so. They are volunteers and charge mileage only.
Colonies in chimneys and roof spaces can sent out swarms of bees with the old queen bee, and it is these that may be lured into nucleus boxes. The original colony continues with one of her daughters as the new queen bee.
Best of luck in dealing with your bees. Every trace of them needs to be removed or the scent will attract further swarms to move into your chimney.
Hi Nelliegrace and thank you for the link.
That’s a very useful article and does make it sound as though it will be very difficult to remove the bees. Almost certainly the beekeeper will fall foul of his/her insurance working at the height of the chimney. It makes me wonder though whether we could have the chimney space sprayed after this swarm has left.. to deter any future swarms. Another thing to investigate.
I hope you find a solution
Thanks Sue.
Oh dear, that is too much excitement. I admit I don’t have any expertise in this area. It’s encouraging that you’ve committed to using the most humane methods possible, and I hope you will be safe, too.
I’d hate to have to harm the bees, it would be the very last resort.
I would look for a reputable local beekeeper who is interested in rescuing the swarm.
::) Linda
We do need someone to come and look at it I think, it sounds as though it could be a difficult job. Thanks Linda.
Really interesting problem to have Jessica, and I enjoyed reading the post and the responses
At least I won’t be short of pollinators!
We have the same problem in one of our chimneys and have learnt to live with it because that’s the sum of the advice we received. Some years they seem particularly unfriendly and hanging out the washing can be a trial because they buzz around my head and even follow me back inside when I dash for cover but mostly we happily co-exist. It’s very different to having a swarm that be scooped up and removed.
For the moment co-existing is our strategy too. The bees seem to be friendly ones this year, so far, so if that continues they can stay put. And of course it isn’t helped by lockdown and the resistance of people to come in, or our resistance to bringing them in.
All I xan say is good luck with it all. xxx
Thanks. We shall let them be(e) for the time being! Like you I have no wish to disturb or harm any wildlife if I can possibly avoid it.
I’m sorry Jessica, I can’t suggest a solution other than contacting a bee keeper. We’ve had bees nesting in the lawn, in the eves, and this year some beautiful plump ones are nesting behind some sleepers in the border at the side of the house. All places safe enough for them to do what they do.. I hope the balloon works.
I knew very little about bees before this post, it’s been fascinating to read the comments. I now know there are people we can contact if we need further advice although the jury seems to be out on how successful any attempt to move the bees might be. Given the height of the chimney (it needs to be high on account of the thatch) I do have some doubts. Hopefully it won’t come to that.
I would prefer bees to wasps nesting within my garden.
Bees will not come back next year.
Wasp season is upon us. But it’s horse flies getting to me most at the moment. Dreadful things.
I don’t want to appear alarmist but have you thought about the honey? I have read reports of honey leaking through ceilings etc if there is an excess that builds up over the years. Yes I know, not what you want to hear. I have no bright ideas apart from buying a few second hand bee hives and see if you can’t persuade the next swarm to take up residence inside.
It has been a lovely summer though and we have had enough rain for a change. The grass looks green, there are plenty of worms for our hardworking blackbirds and even the butternut is behaving itself. On the other hand it seems to have been a bumper year for mice, we shared the broad beans and peas with them….
Fortunately given where the bees are if honey were to leak it would stay within the chimney. The first we’d know about it we’d have honey dripping on to the bedroom hearth! This would mean that if I could persuade Mike to deliver the toast I could scoop up the honey for breakfast in bed. It would make a horrible sticky mess in the flue though.
I am just sharing all of my produce with the slugs. A very cheeky mouse scampered across the patio while we were having coffee yesterday afternoon..
we ‘fostered’ a beehive for several years and found the whole things absolutely fascinating to watch…with none of the responsibility!!! Our bees swarmed sometime last fall and so far we’ve been without. BUT…while we had them, we had a swarm decide that the tree next to our hive was a mighty fine place to land. The numbers in that swarm was mind boggling. Luckily, the beekeeper who watched over our bees rescued them for another hive he had fostering in another part of the county, so all was well—for us, for the bees, and for the new keepers.
I do wonder how all the bees fit inside our chimney.. the size of the swarm was indeed mind boggling. And I know from watching the building works when the chimney was being reconstructed, it’s a very small space they’re in.
Hope you got a jar or two of honey for your fostering duties!
Little late on this – but we had bees in our chimney and we were told to light citronella candles in our fireplace. They disappeared within 24 hours. Apparently they don’t like the smell!
I can see how that would work.. after all other insects are repelled by it. It’s worth a try, although I’d have to move out for the day.. it has the same effect on me!