Wasps in Runner Bean Trench!

tubbee2

Don't kill them - they're native bees!! They won't sting you, please don't kill them they will do no harm to you or your runner beans. If they really bother you treat them as hover flies and ignore them but honestly they will do you no harm. You've disturbed their nests - one bee per nest lays eggs, good for gardens and gardeners alike. Could you possibly find somewhere else for your runner bean trench?

t b

pendulum

Unfortunately the trench they've turned into their nest is just a metre away from my raised bed, and I did manage to plant in that today but didn't feel comfortable with them being so close and buzzing my ears all the time. We also have a 3-year-old come to help once or twice a week (you can see her orange plastic spade in the picture - she helped dig the trench ) and she doesn't like them either... we back on to a woodland, and there are parts of the garden that are wilder and more out of the way where they could have gone but sadly they chose an inconvenient place to make the nest.

Ant killer (containing permethrin) is laid and apparently the permethrin should do the job. Bit worried about all the chemicals we've put down, so will probably just put flowers etc along that row this year.

Lotus-eater

pendulum wrote: »

We also have a 3-year-old come to help once or twice a week (you can see her orange plastic spade in the picture - she helped dig the trench ) and she doesn't like them either...

Well of course, we learn from our elders.

pendulum wrote: »

Ant killer (containing permethrin) is laid and apparently the permethrin should do the job. Bit worried about all the chemicals we've put down, so will probably just put flowers etc along that row this year.

So the bed is wasted anyway. You could have left them there with no effect on you. Just not had a few flowers and now you have chemicals that you are worried about in your soil.
Sometimes this forum makes me :mad: Now I remember why I've been spending more time on the grapevine.

pendulum

Lotus-eater wrote: »

You could have left them there with no effect on you.

I've said I'm uncomfortable with them buzzing around me all the time, and their nest is right next to my raised bed.

What you have said is like telling an arachnophobic to leave the spiders in their bedroom because they will do no harm! They may indeed not do any physical harm but that is hardly the point.

alixandrea

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Well of course, we learn from our elders.


So the bed is wasted anyway. You could have left them there with no effect on you. Just not had a few flowers and now you have chemicals that you are worried about in your soil.
Sometimes this forum makes me :mad: Now I remember why I've been spending more time on the grapevine.

Agreed!! I can't believe you've killed all those poor bees for nothing. Bees are dying randomly in this country due to colony collapse disorder and various nest infestations as it is. they are ESSENTIAL GARDENERS' FRIENDS and should be treated with respect, not killed randomly just because you don't like them being there. Without bees you will have no continuing flowers and few fruits/vegetables due to them being absolutely the best pollinators. If we didn't have bees, we would starve.

Clearly you're more dangerous to them than they are to you - you or the kid might have got a little sting (big deal, it hurts for a short while then goes away) if you'd really antagonised one of them (which would have died after it stung you). In response to this 'threat' you've massacred the lot of them!!

In short DON'T KILL BEES!!! :mad:

Alixandrea

pendulum

In short, my garden, I will do what the .... I like. Why don't you go dig a trench in the middle of your lawn to accomodate a giant bees nest if you like them so sodding much.

[Deleted User]

yes lotus eater I do know that the op says they are bees so I was very slightly off topic

LilacPixie

very sad. I'm doing all i can to encourage bees to my allotment and garden. I need them for my fruit trees and bushes.

Horace

How sad to kill solitary bees because that is what they are, they do wonders in the garden.

I am highly allergic to bee stings yet I would never harm them because I know what good they do because without bees we would have no flowers and without bees you won't have beans because they pollinate the flowers.

As for spiders - put conkers on your window sill or by the door, you don't get them coming in then.

pendulum

I know how important bees are, and I'm happy for them to buzz around the garden doing their thing, I just draw the line at having a huge nest right in the middle of my back garden!



I only put powder around the holes, so you can see how many holes there were. The nest was getting huge and right next to my raised bed. The powder seems to be doing the trick now. Thanks for the replies anyway and think we can put this thread to bed now. Its a shame if I'm still seen as a mass murderer in the eyes of some