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Hi everyone! Let me start by telling you that I am not the kind of person who looks to 'exterminate' the first infestation of bugs and/or pests, always seeking a way to remove said infestation first. However, I also want to make it clear that my Fiancee suffers Anaphylaxis, a common symptom for her after being stung by an insect is lack of ability to breathe and she comes out in rashes.

I live in the UK and am lucky enough to live with my Fiancee and 20 month old Daughter, in a house in the more Countryside locale of the country, Yorkshire. My house has 2 floors, with a kitchen extension on the ground floor and a cellar space underneath that. It also has loft space above the 1st floor.

Just yesterday I was getting prepared to mow my ever growing Lawn, when I went outside to get the strimmer and looked up to see around 8-9 buzzing insects scouting the roof lining of my kitchen extension. HMM. I knew what this activity was, considering how much time i've spend watching nature documentaries in my youth! I looked over to my neighbours, the house to my left had the insects doing exactly the same thing, the house to my right however did not. It seemed that the insects were quite content to my presence, upon looking closer the insects appeared to be 'Solitary Bees' - I looked online after I went back inside to compare descriptions and images to what I saw outside. There are many different kinds of Solitary Bees, so it is difficult to identify this kind of Bee.

I went back outside and there seemed to be several more, about 20-30 at this time. I decided not to do the Lawn as, during this time it became apparent that I had a paralyzing fear of bee swarms... I genuinely could not go any closer than I was. I literally froze in awe of what I knew was going to happen and decided to go back inside and inform my Fiancee. (who of course, panicked.)

We spoke to the neighbour who believed they were Wasps, I offered her my doubts but she wasn't all that interested. She believed (and still believes) them to be wasps. We spoke about it

After monitoring them every 30 minutes for a few hours, going around the house and looking at roof of the main building, I went back to the original point of the bee cluster and I noticed the insects that were now here looked different. Oddly, the bees weren't furry at all (Solitary bees usually are, quite furry but not as big as bumble bees) and there were more. I looked at them as closley as I could (through the window) and noticed they were dark brown. Honey bees. When I say more I mean they had doubled and were climbing in and out of the roof space above my kitchen extension (which leads into the back yard). I had noticed ONE of them had pollen on it's leg...

Okay so they'd made a hive inside the roof of my Kitchen extension. At this point I was glad I was renting and not a home owner. I called my Landlord who came over within about 15 minutes and he then called an exterminator.

I was a bit concerned that he'd called an exterminator as I know Honey Bees are protected and can't be exterminated. The guy came and looked at the bees and confirmed they were Honey Bees (he also found all my warhammer all over my table interesting as he is a wargamer too!!)
He confirmed what I said, that he couldn't exterminate the bees as they can't be killed unless all other processes have been attempted to remove them first. He then spoke to my landlord and advised him of what processes to follow. To wait until tomorrow and see if the bees move on, they might do. Or, To contact a Bee Keeper to come and investigate and see if there was a way to remove the Bees. If a Bee Keeper specifically says he can't get them out, then they have to killed.

As we have a child and my partner is allergic, this had been taken on as a priority by all involved. Which has been great. The evening came and the bees seemed to disperse. Woo! Let's just hope they weren't asleep.

Then this morning came.

I was getting up for work (yes, I work on sundays) and I went to the window. They were back. Oh well, I couldn't stay in so I've had to leave my partner at the mercy of the swarm!

Apparently the number of bees has increased times four at this point and it is driving my fiancee crazy. She's panicking about it, but has been told by my landlord to stay and wait for the Bee Expert to arrive. She just wants to go out!!

Anyway, its now Mid Day on day 2 of the swarm. The hive mind has made it's move and the infestation has so far been successful. We are awaiting permission for exterminatus. (if they can't be moved...)

Has anyone ever experienced anything similar? Cheers.

[Photos to come later, when I get home from work]

Go make mead.

they sound more like Nids have moved in by sound of it lol

Had mini wasp nest just outside my room window once but they got bored and left their nest empty.

Just keep checks on them and let the bee expert know if the bee's swarmlord have advanced or not.

It's actually sorta good to hear about this, honestly, with so many bees dying lately.

Hopefully for you (and the bees) a bee keeper can relocate them!

Oh, I agree. I hope that they can be relocated. The preservation of the entire eco system depends on bees continuing to exist. Of course they'll come into contact with humanity as we keep on expanding. I just hope they can be moved because I certainly do not want to have to have them exterminated. That would be unfortunate.

Yes, I've had wasps, bumble bees and hornets in my garden, and living close to the woods, there are always lots of bees in the vicinity. There's really no reason at all to make such a huge deal out of it.

I get that your wife is allergic, but really, these are just bees. You can literally walk through swarms of them without a single bee even taking notice. They won't do any of you any harm as long as no one does something incredibly stupid, like attacking the hive. Just continue with you normal day-to-day lives until the bee keeper or the exterminator have taken care of the infestation.

Here's some info I found:

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74159.html

Good luck.

Edit as I read OPs first post again.

Hope they can be relocated safely since Bees and other pollinating insects are on the decline.

If a beekeeper has em see if you can get some free pots of honey gratis.

Thanks for your replies, in particular to Relapse for that link. I've read lots of information but this is probably the most informative link with regards to removing them.

@Mr. Burning. The nest IS inaccessible, I'll show you some photos when I get home. They have gone up into the roof of the extension and either up across and along the roof or down into the wall cavity.

The major issue with it being that the longer it's left, the more honey combs they have made and more expensive the removal will be. If they exterminate them it's going to leave permanent damage. I intend to move out in January so that doesn't matter to me, but I'm all for the preservation of species and would rather not annihilate them if possible.. But there are MANY bees rendering one of our doors practically useless.

Our dog is prone to chasing insects and flies, we can't let her into the back garden now because of this either. It's a nuisance.

I don't mind bees when there's one or two! Apparently I don't like swarms and hives!

Either I'm dense today or there's a missing piece of information - why is the door unusable and why can't you let out the dog?

EDIT: That sounded a little confrontational - to clarify: will opening the door directly disturb (i.e. physically affect) the hive, or is it just "close" and you're afraid, or is it something else entirely?

Also, having had a couple of hives relocated and exterminated, I can tell you that the damage to the infested part of the building is the same, as either way afterwards there will be a hole where the hive was. If anything, relocation is usually much more expensive than simply exterminating the hive, unless you find a bee keeper who wants to keep the hive for himself.

You could do what this guy did, and wear a bee suit. Quite handy just to pop to the shops in or out for a walk

The hive is very close to my glass patio door and windows. (The entrance is anyway) The bees are often settling on the door and when opened many of them will fly straight into the house (mostly accidently) as they're currently flying into the windows. I do not want to disturb or aggrevate them. My irrational fear of this swarm also takes over, I can't will myself to approach that location.

My dog is prone to chasing flies and insects around - attacking them at will. She will attack the first bee she sees close enough and will chase it down. Honey bees when threatened release a pheremone that trigger nearby bees to move in and attack to protect the hive. In order to prevent aggrevating the hive, I can't let her out the back during daylight because of this, which is a massive inconvience, she's a big dog and needs outdoors.

Additionaly, Exterminating honey bees is non permissable within the UK due to preservation laws in place. The toxins used in the pesticides can infect other hives and kill them, aswell as infect hives kept by Bee Keepers, poisioning their hives too, and potentially their honey (perhaps without being noticed). The option is only to be explored IF the hive cannot be removed by other means first, which is costly (but won't cost me a thing as it's the landlord's duty.)

I understand the rational point of view with regards to facing this swarm, however, as I mentioned the irrational fear of this swarm of bees has already overtaken my when it comes to going close to it (and to go out the back, requires going straight past it) - It is pointless telling me to just relax, because logically I know that they won't harm me. That said, it does not help at all. I know the facts. Facts don't help my instinctive reactions.

Still, Thanks for the advice everyone.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Pacific wrote:
You could do what this guy did, and wear a bee suit. Quite handy just to pop to the shops in or out for a walk

I was considering trying to use these bees to my advantage. I was hoping to be able to control them via pheremone placement and leading them to my work place like the pied piper, so I didn't have to work until they were removed!!
But, alas! No such luck..

An update though: a pest removal guy has been out again today (different from the last) and this one seems to think that they are certainly within the roof and that they will only grow in number. He wants to remove them next weekend but requires the correct permissions from landlord and everyone associated with removal of Honey Bees. I am unsure if he is going to kill them or try to remove the hive yet - Only had snippets of information from my Fiancee who is at home. I am still at work for the next two hours.

Damn, I need some Jack Daniels..

You're hugely overestimating what killing a bee will "trigger". But, anyway, since you already explained it's just your fears, I don't know what kind of advice one could give.

Hunker down, wait for the bee keeper or the exterminator, and get apiphobia therapy soon if you plan to keep having gardens and enjoying them. It usually only takes a single lesson to change your fear into healthy respect. (No, I'm not making fun of you.)

Good luck with the hive and the house.

I'm going with all the safety advice I've been given, having a child, fiancee who is allergic and a dog I'd rather be on the safe side.

The dog is stupid. She might aggrevate the hive, she might not. I'm not willing to risk that chance.

Anyway, Thanks for your advice. I just thought it was a situation worth sharing. It's certainly a first for me.

My Co-worker had this happen. They usually smoke up the house, find the hive (have to do demo sometimes) and then pick it up and as many of the unconcious bees as possible and stick them in a bee box. Then drive the box 'somewhere' and when they all wake up, they SHOULD simply resume existence in this new box.

The issue is if they catch the queen. If they fail to catch and transport the queen with the hive and sleeping bees, they will be back ASAP.

Also, you will need to expect bees for weeks after because you can't catch them all and many will get lost or be hard-wired for your house. You also have to hope that a new queen doesn't spawn and split the colony.

If they can't get to the hive easily, you may be in for a large issue... and being a rental, your landlord may not take it seriously as you would like. Honestly, your best bet probably would be to move if that is reasonable. Maybe see if your landlord has other properties and transfer your lease, or even get a kick-out due to risk due to your spouses allergic reactions. If no one was allergic, I would say stick it out and have fun as it is kinda neat, but since it could easily kill someone, you need to look out for you.

Bees are actually quite funny and don't really get crazy mad... unless they are those horrible bees who do get crazy mad. I wouldn't be worried about 'triggering' a horror movie result. If they were africanized, you would already have triggered it by now.

Have you contacted a beekeeper? Around here, the beekeepers will get out to your place within 24 hours. They're tripping over themselves to get these hives.

Beekeepers will be begging to come get rid of them for you.

Put up an add in the paper or look for local beekeeper's numbers.

I love bees! Always wanted a mini hive, but apparently they can become very aggressive if there are too many nearby.

Somewhat related...