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Before we went away on holiday at the end of March we had Blue Tits in a nesting box fixed to a tree in our garden. When we returned home at the end of April instead of baby birds the nest box is home to hundreds of Tree Bumblebees. We've been thinking they were wasps as they're swarming around the entrance to the box but we caught one in a very long-handled net today and have identified what they are on the Internet. They're of no use to bee keepers as they do not produce honey and it appears that they are aggressive and can give multiple stings. This species is relatively new to the UK, only having been spotted here for the past 10 or so years. Any suggestions what we should do? The tree is really close to our pond and from past experience I know that the stuff that council pest control people use on wasp nests is dangerous to pond life.

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Lizzie ,

Assuming you can move the bird box without too much trouble , have you seen this ?

  • Wear protective clothing, especially gloves.
  • Take a note of where the nest is and how you will reach it when it is dark.
  • Wait until all or most of the workers have returned – this is often well after dusk.
  • When activity quietens down, block up the entrance hole with flexible foam (e.g. from a sponge or scouring pad).
  • Seal up any holes you find around the box using tape, as bumblebees can easily use these to escape from the box when it is being moved.
  • Take the box down, without tipping it over, and keep it on a flat surface until you are ready to move it.
  • Carefully move the box to its new location. This should be at least 5 ft. off the ground. It should be attached to a surface that is not liable to vibration, as this can disturb the bees.
  • Remove the bung the next day, and the bees will leave to explore their new area. It is best to leave it until after midday to remove the bung.

One day last week , right outside our back door , lying on the slabs was a pigeon without a head ! A crow pecking at the open wound !

Doing a crime scene investigation , I would say it had been attacked in mid air by a hawk or something and landed from a fair height judging by the radius of the splatter marks (won't go into gory details) .

The crow can be aggressive , usually to the gulls and is about the same size but doesn't normally seem to bother about pigeons too much . He is a regular feeder in our garden but would imagine it was a larger bird that would have made a bite like that . The obvious culprit is a cat but I think this was dead before it hit the ground .

Its where we normally sit out in the sun so a lucky escape ! Imagine that landing on yer lap !

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Thanks David for the info but I think we need someone a lot braver than we are to tackle this job! They're a busy lot but hopefully they're just focused on the Queen Bee. At our previous house we had wasp nests under the roof tiles every year and they would come into the house through bedroom windows. Each year we had the Council round to get rid of them but I'd always wait a few weeks after seeing the first nest so the man had a few to deal with on the one visit. One year we had 5 nests, all under the tiles.

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ITS OK lizzie,me and the family will come to the rescue, see celiadh dancing #9

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Had similar problem last week lizzie,we had a swarm in the front garden but these were "honey bees" .A BEE keeper came out from Papplewick (free of charge) but could"nt get at the Queen bee" so didnt take them,told us there was in the region of 20,000,and would probably go off on their own accord,which they did after 2 days.

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We had a bumblebee come on the ward I work on at QMC today, it was mass panic from staff & patients. As I was the only bloke on the ward I had to deal with it. They wanted me to kill it but I hadn't got the heart to do the execution. I ended up gently trapping it between 2 menus & released it out the window & it flew off none the worse, mind you I was scared I was going to get stung..

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http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/faqs/moving-bumblebee-nests/

This is quite an interesting article about bumble bees and tree bumble bees, and worth a read before calling in pest control. They are usually placid unless feeling threatened and it is common for tree bumble bees to use bird boxes. I think this is the site DavidW got the info from.

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Once used Slug pellits,never again! i felt so guilty next morning when i saw what they had done to the poor things,so now i just them eat what they want,nature innit.!

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As kids, I cannot remember anybody being scared of the lumbering old bumble bee...except for the women frightened of it getting in their hair.

Stung by the ordinary bee many times and always wary of the wasp; nasty, aggressive buggers out here. Got rid of a couple of nests of wasps in the garden - they nest down in the ground and when you dig it up (after the wasps are killed!), the nests are the size of a football and the structure is like rice paper.

Cases every year of people walking down the street and getting attacked - council workers cutting the grass on the road side are fair game.

There is something about the electric hedge trimmers and lawn edgers that they dislike - often get them buzzing the motors as you do the garden.

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We've got some Australian nurses were I work (QMC) & they tell horror stories about the ants & other insects. Whenever we go abroad I seen to get eaten alive by mozzies, but they never touch SWMBO, s'not fair. What the Oz insects would do to me I dread to think..

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On a trip to SA, we went through the Murrumbidgee irrigation area. Huge rice growing area of Oz..

We had a camper trailer fully equipped... We stopped one night in a rest area, and I set up a couple of chairs and a table outside plus the shower tent.

I didn't stop outside very long, mozzies as big as horses started to land on me!! You could have thrown a saddle on them damned things and flown off into the sunset!

In all my years in both Oz and stateside have I seen mozzies as big as they have in that area.

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I don't kill wasps either, they are good for the garden.

And thats where they can stay!

Once used Slug pellits,never again! i felt so guilty next morning when i saw what they had done to the poor things,so now i just them eat what they want,nature innit.!

Please PM me you address and I will send you ours.

Benjamin's Slug Rescue?

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We had a slug in NSW called a Tiger Slug, jeeze really big slugs that got into everything, dog food veggie garden..Pour salt on them and they literally turned themselves inside out..

Bazz will know the ones I mean, probably Stan will too.

An adult Tiger slug must be at least 4 inches long and as fat as the average blokes thumb. Their slime is like contact adhesive, won't wash off with soap and water...The only good thing about them is, they eat other slugs and snails..

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Know the ones, Ayupmeducks.....also called Leopard slugs and salt is truly effective. Best time to get them is early morning after a heavy dew but at the same time, you would not want to be walking barefoot on the lawn late at night.

Perhaps this fella would like some on his menu..............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8wLGsFvaxk

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