Bees and the arrival of spring

Welcome back, everyone.

It will soon be time where the weather starts to warm up which will be bringing bees along with it. The first of these seasonal friends will be bumblebees and minor/mason bees. As spring arrives these will start to appear more regularly, they are not pests but friends.

Bumblebees can sound scary with their loud buzzing and large size. As long as you do not knock or disturb their nest or nest entrance they will return the kindness by leaving you alone.

Minor bees make nests in the ground and it may look like you have hundreds but they are solitary bees only interested in creating a quick nest in which to lay their eggs. They do not stay long and can be discouraged but there is no need as long as you wear some sort of footwear in the garden.

Mason bees create or use holes in the mortar between the bricks of buildings or holes in logs or other suitable structures. These don’t sting and are harmless along with being fascinating to observe. As with minor bees, they are only a short-lived nuisance and disappear as fast as they arrive.  

We will remove certain bumblebee species depending on the circumstances and nest location. If it can be done safely in regards to the bees we will, however, we do advise strongly that they are left alone.

Mason and minor bees we understand can be a nuisance however they do not pose a threat. For mortar bees, we would advise filling all external holes in the walls before they start to nest.

For minor bees, we would suggest using a sprinkler system if bothered by these however for both we would fully recommend leaving them be and watching them work for their short-lived lives. 

All of the above species are fantastic pollinators and mason bees aka mortar bees are considered as good a pollinator as honey bees if not better (depending on which source of info you read)

Please consider the benefits of these and the issue they are truly causing you before contacting us. We can come up with certain other solutions dependant upon the issue however 9/10 times the advice will be to leave them in situ for the couple of weeks they are active.