I am having issues with honey bee's invading my living room! I had been noticing a few buzzing around the living room over the past week or two which then culminated in opening the living room door on Saturday morning to be met with around 2,000 bees in the living room. I have a multi fuel inset wood burner connected to a flue pipe with a slight gap around the sides and bottom from which the Bees were arriving. I obviously have them in the actual chimney itself and not the flue pipe. I rang a bee keeper who arrived and was taken aback with the sight but assisted me in getting the swarm outside. After a lengthy chat it was decided he could do little about my problem as the hive would be higher up the chimney and impossible to get at. Last thing I want to do is kill them off, I understand the importance of having them. I was looking for any suggestions which may assist in deterring them from my chimney. There is a possibility they have swarmed and left but I am still coming home to a dozen or more in the living room and am fearful if they have left they may return. I have, as of last night, placed 2" masking tape around the edges of the fire, boiled up some Garlic cloves and liberally painted the mixture on the tape. I am hoping this will make things uncomfortable for them and they may go and find some other fools chimney. Any ideas please?
Start smoking cigars*. Puff away furiously and regularly, making sure the smoke goes everywhere. See how the b's like that. * Other smokable substances are available.
Have you considered acquiring some Japanese Giant Hornets*? * keep any children away from them, as hornets have been known to fly off with small children and raise them as their own
You need to remove the trace of pheromones. Jeyes fluid (sprayed) is good but may be not suitable where you are.
for 2000 bees to be down in the living area I am sure the queen would have been present. When you put them outside where did they go? Maybe back into the chimney! If they are still in the chimney I guess the queen must still be there, you have to get her out to remove the swarm. You could try a cardboard box, make some 2 inch holes and put 8 to 10 drops of lemongrass oil around the inside. Get the box as close as you can to the swarm. Maybe you can encourage them to take up residence in the box instead of the chimney. If you do catch them a swarm will sell for £50!!! You really want to get them out before they start building too much comb, once they start laying eggs and raising a brood in the comb, they will not leave voluntarily and you will probably have to end up killing them to get them out. You will get a smell of roasted baby bees when you eventually light the wood burner.
Trouble is Whele, we can't get to the hive. The chimney is a victorian one with twists and bends plus it has my 6" flue pipe running up it. The bee man was here when we moved the swarm and he thinks the queen is still in the hive. The hive is thought to be up near the top. He did put a wooden box in the back yard to try and tempt them but it doesn't appear to be working. I have had the wood burner going since saturday as the feeling was the only way to get them to leave was to make them uncomfortable with the heat from the flue pipe although it may not be hot enough once it has reached the location of the hive. I really want to avoid killing them. I was hoping of something I could put at the base of the chimney that would waft up and send them away. Googled it yesterday and Garlic was one option which I did last night with a small fire going. I will see what's going on in the living room when I get home shortly.
Regardless of where the queen ended up her pheromones are in the place where the swarm settled (in the chimney?). You have little choice but to kill off what is left in the chimney. It's sounds strange that the flue pipe isn't sealed around the top pot? Keep a fire lit and the heat should do for the remaining colony? I've removed swarms and used jeyes fluid to clear the site after.
We had a huge problem with hornets when we purchased our house. There was also a wasps nest in the loft. We are surrounded by trees which the hornets use to nest but they are attracted to light at night so we're all over the house. Over 1 inch long and terrifying. What we have done is line our loft with thin metal mesh. About £500-600 worth but worth it as we haven't had 1 intrusion in nearly a year. Also, cover your chimney in the wire net and job done. Be sure to use metal rather than the netting made of nylon or plastic as they chew through it and use it to build nests which is a bit counter productive. I'll hunt out a link to what we used and post it up. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Found it. Company called F H Brundle (The UK's Wrought Iron Components Specialists - F H Brundle product code 27051816 - aluminium insect mesh £0.55 per sq ft (inc vat). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This was posted on Facebook a couple of weeks ago! Maybe try another keeper for a different view. With reference to smoke - Smoke masks alarm pheromones, which include various chemicals, e.g., isopentyl acetate that are released by guard bees or bees that are injured during a beekeeper's inspection. The smoke creates an opportunity for the beekeeper to open the beehive and work while the colony's defensive response is interrupted. If you have a swarm arrive in your garden for god's sake don't PANIC! They are not looking for you to kill you!! They are just en route to find a new place to live! Keep your children and pets at a distance and do not disturb the bees. “Go onto the BBKA website, click on ‘I have a swarm’, read the information they provide and then put in your postcode and you will get a list of your nearest swarm collectors. A collector will come & safely remove them for you. (For FREE!!). . A lot of the collectors work and are busy with their own bees so be patient, they will respond. They do this work voluntarily and not for personal gain, so if you are able, perhaps give them a 'Thank you' donation for their time & commitment to helping you. . Without Bees... we will all starve, so Bee good to Bees . Oh, & could you please share this Thank you (from the Bees)
Thanks, the bee keepers came from the BBKA website as I did exactly the above. They are only really interested if they can get their hands on the hive without too much hassle. If it's in a chimney like mine, you are stuck with it hence my post on here. As said, I do NOT want to kill the bees, I understand the importance of them. The flue was fitted recently and there is a gap around it awaiting the roofer to finally show and re-slate my property, hence the access point. I have had the fire lit for days but to no avail. I read both Garlic and white vinegar deters them, tried both, no it doesn't! I had a 3 foot wasp nest in the loft 2 years ago, that was a doddle to deal with though. I am still at a complete loss with this and it's beginning to look like a costly extermination I am afraid. Thanks for all the input so far, still waiting for the Eureka moment though lol!
