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Bees in the Whitecurrants

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  • 14-06-2019 1:54pm
    #1
    amandstu
    Registered Users Posts: 3,404 ✭✭✭


    I have found a small hive hanging from the top branches of my whitecurrant bush.

    Quite active ..what to do?

    Can I just pick the crop with as minimum fuss as possible? (ideally I want to pick them as they ripen and not in one go)

    Will they put up with me or go for me ?(esp if one gets in my hair by mistake)

    ps certain they are bees and not wasps btw.


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    #2
    Lumen
    Registered Users Posts: 31,016 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    http://swarms.ie/ if you want to get rid.


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    #3
    amandstu
    Registered Users Posts: 3,404 ✭✭✭amandstu


    Lumen wrote: »
    http://swarms.ie/ if you want to get rid.

    Thanks,there is probably a beekeeper in the area who might be happy to take it away for their own use,but I am wondering is it safe for me to "work around" them if I am careful?

    edit..I now see you link may also be helpful and perhaps informative


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    #4
    Lumen
    Registered Users Posts: 31,016 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    amandstu wrote: »
    I am wondering is it safe for me to "work around" them if I am careful?
    Just be a bit careful. Bees are amazing and useful creatures but at the end of the day each one is venomous and has thousands of mates to back it up. :)


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    #5
    amandstu
    Registered Users Posts: 3,404 ✭✭✭amandstu


    Lumen wrote: »
    Just be a bit careful. Bees are amazing and useful creatures but at the end of the day each one is venomous and has thousands of mates to back it up. :)

    I have a long established hive under a flat roof where ,if attacked I would have a hard job making a run for it if they were to gang up on me.

    Still,I sometimes go up the ladder to clean the windows and only once did I have to get down quickly when I felt one in my hair.

    This whitecurrant bush feels a lot safer as it is in the open.

    I feel that ,so long as I don't actually disturb the hive they will just go about their business (especially if the weather is inclement and they are indoors)

    It is tricky though as the Bush is netted and getting under it might well jostle the hive)

    I will play it by ear and maybe ask one of the local beekeepers to rehome it. (the other hive is too much trouble)

    Not so long ago bees were in short supply (after those severe winters,I think) ;they seem to have recovered around here anyway.


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    #6
    _Brian
    Registered Users Posts: 18,489 ✭✭✭✭_Brian


    I worked in an old building in a college office.
    The room we used was know as the bee room, records shon bees in the roof space going back 200 years even with many attempts to move them.

    Occasionally they would swarm down into the room. We would open the windows and go for a walk for an hour amdnthwy would be gone.

    6 of us using the room and we never had anyone stung at all.


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    #7
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 48,491 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    they are honeybees i assume?


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    #8
    amandstu
    Registered Users Posts: 3,404 ✭✭✭amandstu


    magicbastarder wrote: »
    they are honeybees i assume?

    Well I can tell that they are not bumble bees ,not wasps,not hoverflies ...

    We do have different looking bees around the place so I don't know if they are a particular variety of honey bee or whether you can get different looking bees from the same hive.

    So yes ,I am pretty sure they are honey bees but this is the first time I have seen their hive.

    It does look like one I managed to find on Google images but not identical.

    It is smaller than I expected and seems nice and symmetrical,pointy at the top where it is attached to the branch ,creamy white coloured and tapering to a rounding base.


    Only about 7 inches tall I'd say.


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    #9
    Lumen
    Registered Users Posts: 31,016 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    _Brian wrote: »
    I worked in an old building in a college office.
    The room we used was know as the bee room, records shon bees in the roof space going back 200 years even with many attempts to move them.

    Occasionally they would swarm down into the room. We would open the windows and go for a walk for an hour amdnthwy would be gone.

    6 of us using the room and we never had anyone stung at all.

    Apparently swarms are less dangerous than colonies because they don't have anything to defend.

    I've started reading beekeeping forums recently and getting advice about siting of hives, and the essence of the advice received so far is that siting hives near people is grossly irresponsible. Colonies can sometimes turn aggressive (e.g. if queenless) and while most people won't be badly affected by a sting, some people can go into anaphylactic shock.


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    #10
    smacl
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 15,722 Mod ✭✭✭✭smacl


    This article in the examiner might be interesting as there seems to be a lot of interest in wild colonies re-emerging. In your position, I'd contact the National biodiversity centre and Native Irish Honey Bee Society and get some advice from those in the know. Personally, I wouldn't be too concerned about a small hive in the garden once it was a reasonable distance from your house and your neighbours house, but that said, I'm no expert.

    Edit: A couple of photos would be cool too, more out of personal curiosity than being able offer advice.


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