I’d just add my voice to David and Eric’s. From experience, trying to remove a
well established colony from a roof space rarely goes well. And that’s even
with the use of things like a bee vacuum. These days I advise leaving the
colony alone; just closing any gaps where the bees are getting into the rooms
below with painters caulk (easier to work with than mastic).
Gareth
On 31 Aug 2019, at 23:00, Eric Asher <eric.asher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
David is right I think.
Eric
From: oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on
behalf of David Gosling <dgosling49@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: 31 August 2019 17:45
To: oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [oxnatbees] Re: Colony in a loft
It might be a good idea to suggest that they leave the colony alone. If they
have been there for ages without any problems it might be the best solution.
On Sat, 31 Aug 2019 at 15:06, Gilliane Sills <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
I've been approached by someone who's moved into a house in Cutteslowe in
Oxford in which there's a lot of bee activity, with bees flying around and
going in and out through holes just underneath the roof. The neighbours say
the bees have been there for years, so it's presumably a long-established
wild or feral colony. I've seen photos of some dead bees amd am confident
they're honey bees - at least a couple of them are drones.
The people who've contacted me don't want to kill the bees if this can be
avoided, but I'm not sure they'll be happy with the bees staying in the long
term. I guess it's possible that the nest may be accessible from inside the
loft (though I haven't seen this and have no idea how likely this is) - and
in that case, it might be possible to move the colony if the alternative was
that they be killed. If this was considered, would it be better in principle
to attempt this now, or soon, or wait until the spring? My gut feeling is
the spring, when the colony would naturally be growing, but there may be a
counter-argument.
Any thoughts gratefully received...
Best wishes
Gilliane
--
The Map House
Vernon Avenue
Oxford
OX2 9AU
01865 721644
