We have a honey bee hive in our garden!

First topic message reminder :

There's an insect nest hanging up. A few weeks ago, shredded leaves mysteriously started appearing in the holes as plugs. Then, about a week later, I was putting a rubbish bag out in the garden and I saw a honey bee fly into one of the holes with a big piece of leaf! And I would like to point out that I feel very special and smug, as I was the first one to notice! Mwuhahaha!   

It's a very small hive. Like this:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510u%2B7vrrOL._SX300_.jpg

Only with shredded leaves plugging most of the holes!

I won't be as happy if the swarm gets too much bigger, but I think (hope) that's very unlikely. Bit sad, really, as they probably won't survive long without proper beekeeping - which I'm definitely not going to do! I wouldn't have a clue! Probably for the best, though, as we'd otherwise have to call in a beekeeper to move the hive. I think it's just a temporary swarm anyway, while they look for a proper home.

30 minutes doesn't seem very long!

Caryll wrote:30 minutes doesn't seem very long!

Its not really but I refuse to live in fear. I hate dr's, I don't even take panadol. I have just learnt to be alert. 

Its actually not often a bee or wasp will sting you. Normally they will fly off if they can.

True. I've only been stung twice by wasps, and never by bees.

Luckily, like you said, they don't often sting!

I think part of the reason I've never been afraid of bees is that they're far gentler, as herbivores. Wasps are carnivorous and always prepared to sting. As I child, I think part of that probably got through to me subconsciously.

Also, a wasp may sting again and again - bees lose their stinger and their life when they sting - so they need to be sure its worth it.

Lorraine wrote:Also, a wasp may sting again and again - bees lose their stinger and their life when they sting - so they need to be sure its worth it.

Most do, but apparently not all!  

Bumblebees can sting repeatedly - honey bees can't. Bumbles will very, very rarely sting though, so it's not much of a problem.

I love bees

Amazing

Scientists actually claim it's physically impossible for a bumble bee to fly. Errr... Step out of your laboratories and look at the nearest clump of flowers, you nitwits.

Incredible! Maybe these scientists were just looking at the bumblebee on the drawing board - big fat body, little tiny wings - nah, won't get off the ground.

Sounds like it! I often wonder if they ever venture out into daylight.

Ahem. I can assure you I do see the light of day........  

Eleanor wrote:Luckily, like you said, they don't often sting!

 Wasps are carnivorous and always prepared to sting. 

Just a side note.

If you feed your dog raw bones, dont leave them outside for any length of time. Especially in warmer months. Wasps feed off the meat/marrow & dogs get stung when they go back to chew on the bone.
We also watch the water bowl as wasps actually sit there to drink.

LyndaW wrote:Incredible!  Maybe these scientists were just looking at the bumblebee on the drawing board - big fat body, little tiny wings - nah, won't get off the ground.

Bit like the weather forecasters.  If only they looked out a window before they open their mouths they would be right far more often. 

Unless you claim that bumble bees can't fly, I think you can be excused!

Those are good points, Tracy! Thanks! I sometimes put a water bowl downstairs for Demps when he's sunbathing.

A wasp is one of the insects that will actually drink water rather than obtain it from their food source. Christmas beetles & mosquitos drink water. Just to name a couple.

I didn't know that! I think I knew about the mosquitos, but otherwise that's news to me!

As much as wasps annoy me, I can't deny their use. Great natural pest controllers.

Wasps arent great anything except compost in my vegie patch.

It's weird, but I've hardly seen any wasps at all this year.

Unlike my sister, who came home from a weekend away and found about 50 dead wasps on her living room floor, and a big fat live wasp clinging to the curtains (which she left there!!!)

I told her to get rid of the big wasp as it was probably a queen looking to build a new nest in her house, and the dead wasps were her husbands.

Well, I'm not sure if I'm correct, but this is how bees work I think.

I don't know how wasps work in that respect, but they still have a queen, that I do know.

You know, Lynda, you're right - I've seen very few wasps this summer. One or two, yes, but at this time of year they're normally everywhere! We had a barbeque a week or so ago & not one came to annoy us!

One thing I learned from my many holidays in Greece, eating in the open air when wasps were a serious distraction. Put a heap of coffee granules in a saucer on the table and set fire to it. It does work (a bit!)

Although I welcome the scarcity of wasps (who as aforementioned will sting me painfully for no reason whatsoever), I read somewhere that they predate upon crane-fly larvae (leatherjackets). Now I don't have a lawn so that doesn't bother me but I can't stand craneflies. I know it's illogical because they won't hurt me, but they give me the serious heebie-jeebies, like flying spiders and I can't stand them near me. Come September I will learn whether the paucity of wasps has increased the cranefly population - if it has I will revise my view of wasps, although which will be the lesser of two evils I don't know!

It's good to learn something new everyday! I've never heard of crane flies so I just looked it up. I hate those things. Thanks for telling me their name Lynda!

But I'd still prefer crane flies to wasps.

We are taught as children if we have a can of soda to never put it down outside without a tissue, coaster... just something over the top of the can as wasps will fly in for a drink, child drinks & gets stung in the mouth or throat.

A lot of people call Crane Flies 'Daddy Long Legs' over here, which is the name of one of our spindly-legged spiders. They're a nuisance, as they make a huge racket when they get inside your bedroom at night, crashing into the walls and windows.

I've not seen many wasps this year either. A couple of them buzzed into my bedroom the day before yesterday, when it was quite hot, but they left quickly.

The trouble will come later in the year, when they finally wake up. They get really aggressive.