Bees/wasp nest!

onejontwo

Help! I have in my back garden what appears to be a bee/wasp nest.
The thing is there doesn't appear to be an actual nest! There seems to be a colony of bees/wasps in the shape of a coconut sized and shape ball of bees/wasps just hanging from a tree branch. The reason I know this is that 3 times I have hosed the insects "nest" down and the insects fall to the floor and there is no actual nest remaining, I have then sprayed the branch with "Jeyes fluid" to deter them from returning but the next day one by one they set up this colony again.
We are not plagued by them but sitting in the garden is a bit uncomfortable as my wife runs a mile if one gets too close!
Any ideas?

wallbash

Get in touch with the council , they wont do anything but should have info on bee keepers. They will come and collect the swarm , the one in our road last week was there within an hour , no charge BUT was willing to accept a small donation .

So stop 'playing ' with the bees and get professional advice.

Ours was actually harder to collect as it was on the floor , guy all dressed up in white with a mask took over two hours to 'push' the bees into a box with a soft brush .

Yorkie1

I agree. You need a professional beekeeper to remove the swarm.

Google to see if there's a local bee keeping group to you, or the BBKA. Their contact details may be on the web.

caringa

If its a wasp nest, you will have to pay to have it removed.

onejontwo

Having googled it it appears that they are bees rather than wasps. (Though which type I've no idea, basically not the chubby ones but the slimmer ones with yellow and black pyjamas.)

wallbash

he reason I know this is that 3 times I have hosed the insects "nest" down and the insects fall to the floor and there is no actual nest remaining, I have then sprayed the branch with "Jeyes fluid"

Don't tell anyone , but technically I think you have become a felon !!
Its illegal to try and kill bees.
But as I posted recently in another thread , the next doors gable end has now got a bees nest . But its high up and is doing no harm . Although a 'little' scary for some/

elisebutt65

It's actually a swarm, not a nest. And bees are incredibly endangered at the moment. Please look up your local beekeeper association and they will happily collect it for you. It's easy enough just to knock it into a box, but they will do that for you.

If its wasps though, you need to call an exterminator as beekeepers get really annoyed at collecting wasp nests. My dad used to rant for hours about people who didn't know the difference. Bees are furry & wasps are shiny, generally. (& they keep stinging)

Beetlemama

"Bees are furry, wasps are shiny" that's very pretty :-)

I had a nest in my back garden and the bee keeper the council put me on to couldn't get there quick enough to collect his new pets. Call them and ask them for details of a local bee keeper, since you weren't sure if they were bees or wasps at first they must be honey bees not bumbles, I reckon, someone will want them.

Tessie_Balloon_Juice

Is it possible to deal with a wasps nest yourself? Has anyone tried it?

I think I might have one in my wall cavity. There's a hole drilled in the side of my house, about an inch across. I presume it's been used to feed aerial cables or something in at some point. I've noticed a lot of wasps flying in and out of the hole but, apart from the odd one, there aren't any inside my house.

I was going to attempt to spray some insecticide in the hole. Any thoughts?

P.S. They're definitely wasps, not bees.

Davesnave

Tessie_Balloon_Juice wrote: »

Is it possible to deal with a wasps nest yourself? Has anyone tried it?

I was going to attempt to spray some insecticide in the hole. Any thoughts?

P.S. They're definitely wasps, not bees.

Yes, I have dealt with a situation like this.

It's possible to DIY, but not by spraying into the hole in the first instance. That might invoke more of a reaction than you would like!

Instead, you need to wait till dusk when the wasps return, then shoot them with insecticide individually as about to alight. If you do that carefully, there wont be much kerfuffle and the numbers inside will be much reduced. Then, when it is dark, you can spray inside the hole and retire immediately.

It's still relatively early in the year after a cold spring, so numbers should not be large yet. All the same, make sure you have an escape route sorted, just in case.

Wasps do their best not to get noticed near their nest, for obvious reasons. It's only later in the year, when they get dopey and often very pished on overripe fruit juice, that they lose their way and their self control!

spacey2012

Bee keepers will be there in a flash, a queen and swarm can change hands for thousands dependant on species.
You certainly wont have any trouble getting someone to take it away, usually within the hour.