Bees!

GreeBo

Hey,

I've just noticed that bees are starting to gather around my chimney. Only in the last hour or so, so I want to try to discourage them now before they start building a hive.

I cant really reach it with a hose so would like to burn something in the fireplace that will essentially smoke them out.
(I tried a power washer and the mist was certainly discouraging them, but as soon as I turned it off they reappeared)

Any ideas for something that will cause smoke without needing a roaring fire?

I have some dried twigs/leaves that were getting ready for the compost heap....would that work?!

Cheers!

CJhaughey

You need green plant material

GreeBo

CJhaughey wrote: »

You need green plant material

I lashed on the twigs and leaves that I had chopped weeks ago up for the compost heap and its smoking like a trooper, just have to be careful that it doesnt catch as otherwise it just burns up with no smoke, but if I let it smolder away I get a lot of smoke and a lot of mileage out of a handful of stuff.

It remains to be seens if it has any impact on the feckin bees though!

GreeBo

and of course just as I finished typing that last message the whole thing went up in flames again!

I'm using a plant sprayer with water to dampen down the flames and keep it smoldering/smoking...

This operation deffo calls for a beer.

M.T.D

Contact your local bee keepers association. If it is a swarm a local beekeeper will come and collect them. No need to smoke them, beer sounds a good idea though.
There is a beekeeping forum you could try posting there
I have bait hives out to try to catch a swarm

GreeBo

M.T.D wrote: »

Contact your local bee keepers association. If it is a swarm a local beekeeper will come and collect them. No need to smoke them, beer sounds a good idea though.
There is a beekeeping forum you could try posting there
I have bait hives out to try to catch a swarm

Yeah, I dont want to kill them (I have no problem with bees, I tended a few hives when I was younger) but I have a toddler and they are noticeably around the garden and inside the house after only 2-3 hours of landing.

No one is going to be able to come out with the restrictions, so I'm afraid I had to take matters into my own hands (much to my wifes dismay!)

Anywho, the smoke from the twigs + water spray seem to be doing the trick, I can only see a handful down from maybe 100 when I started.

The beer is certainly doing the trick though!:D

chooseusername

A hand-full of green grass gives off plenty smoke.
You need them gone before Queenie lays her eggs.

GreeBo

chooseusername wrote: »

A hand-full of green grass gives off plenty smoke.
You need them gone before Queenie lays her eggs.

They had pretty much gone yesterday evening but this morning they were back in, albeit not in the same numbers.

So another morning if tending s bloody for while it's 20* outside, the neighbors must think I'm barking.

Finding it very difficult to keep it smoking, I'll get it just right and then s few minutes later the whole thing goes up and burns itself out.
I'm limited by the fact that the chimney isn't clean, it's the first time we've used it so I don't want s chimney fire.
If I could get s cost fire going and died down then grass etc would work well, but alas I'm on rolled up newspaper, sticks and then heaps of green leaves, stalks, etc fresh from the trees and hedges. Smokes like s bugger but then whoosh up in flames and I'm back to square one.

Numbers were down again this evening so will see what tomorrow brings, maybe the frost will move them somewhere less exposed.

I also found a small, Apple sized hive in the grass this morning, which seems like a huge coincidence, it was fresh but empty.

I'm hopefulb that Queenie hasn't started, but I can't see anything other then the bees flying near the chimney, it's 20m off the ground... Should've bought a camera drone!

GreeBo

So whether through skill, dump luck or the cold snap, the bees appear to have moved on.

I'm now left with a kinda stinky room from ash/smoke.
I have cleared out the grate and also also bags of crap there were sitting in the chimney above the hearth, but it still stinks.
Any home remedies for helping remove the smell? (Other than washing carpets etc)

It seems much more like ash than smoke, if that matters.

DelBoy Trotter

GreeBo wrote: »

No one is going to be able to come out with the restrictions, so I'm afraid I had to take matters into my own hands (much to my wifes dismay!)

I know you have got rid of them, but bee keepers are allowed work even with the restrictions at the moment