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Mortar Bees

135

Comments

  • pollyskettle
    pollyskettle Posts: 2,163 Forumite
    How about sticking one of these higher up the house. Probably useless for this year, but should work for next :confused:
    "A cat can have kittens in the oven, but that don't make them biscuits." - Mary Cooper
    "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" - William Morris
    Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.
  • Lotus-eater
    Lotus-eater Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Yes or make your own and stick it somewhere sunny in the garden.

    http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=mason+bee+house+plans&btnG=Search&meta=
    Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
  • pollyskettle
    pollyskettle Posts: 2,163 Forumite
    Once again, thank you :D
    "A cat can have kittens in the oven, but that don't make them biscuits." - Mary Cooper
    "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" - William Morris
    Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.
  • annie123
    annie123 Posts: 4,256 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 18 April 2009 at 9:11PM
    they wont die if you block up one vent, they will find another vent to get out of, a new build should have plenty.
    You cant block up the holes made in mortar with out killing them.

    one of my jobs many many years ago was working for a wildlife trust, and I still do voluntry work for them.
    I spent a lot of my time on wildlife gardens and know and love bees.

    excellent home made bee homes:

    http://www.foxleas.com/bee_house.htm
  • melanie22_2
    melanie22_2 Posts: 64 Forumite
    Lotus-eater wrote: »
    Oh !!!!!!!!

    Half the bloody population is putting up bee houses to try and save these endangered NON STINGING bees and you lot want to get rid of them.

    They are called mason bees.

    They are lovely and they brighten up my day when I see them nest in my house.

    Tbh I haven't been so worked up for ages, it's not even your house pollyskettle, you said it was owned by the HA

    I'm going to cool down, please feel free to call me as many names as you like.

    Sounds to me like she wasn't being mean or anything. She just doesn't wish to share her house with them. Doesn't mean she wouldn't mind them around.

    If a certain spider endangered spider started nesting in my house i wouldn't want them there endangered or not but i also wouldn't kill them.

    by the by i didn't know there were such a thing as non stinging bees hmm. Learn something new everyday :p
  • emptygrape
    emptygrape Posts: 35 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Although I know very little about them I'm very lucky in that I get loads of Bees in my garden. I have lots of stone and dry stone type walls that attract a burrowing type of bee that has a black body and orange bottom and some trees full of pink drooping flowers that in summer have a constant buzz from the amount of Bees around them.I love the little critters. :D
  • Lotus-eater
    Lotus-eater Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    annie123 wrote: »
    they wont die if you block up one vent, they will find another vent to get out of, a new build should have plenty.
    You cant block up the holes made in mortar with out killing them.
    OK my strong point isn't house building, but if the cavity were filled, wouldn't that stop them getting to another vent?
    Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
  • ixwood
    ixwood Posts: 2,550 Forumite
    From the link: "The natural habitat of mortar bees is earth banks and soft exposed rocks into which the female bee burrows.". Do you have a little sunny area you can leave for them?
  • ~jules~_3
    ~jules~_3 Posts: 66 Forumite
    A few years back bees were nesting in a friends cavity wall (they only realised because of the buzzing noise):eek:
    and they were advised to spray Jeyes fluid around the vents etc. ( They had to wait until the end of summer though)
    This seemed to work but I don't know what sort of bees they were.:confused:
    April grocery challenge week1 £39.91/£40:T week 2 £41.17 /£40 week 3 £41.96/£40 week 4 /£40
  • Mutter_2
    Mutter_2 Posts: 1,307 Forumite
    Mortar bees are solitary, therefore do not swarm. They do possess a sting, but as they're so calm you would have to squeeze one to provoke it to sting.
    They have visited my house for years, and it's still standing! They lay an egg in the mortar and seal it with wax. The baby bee will emerge, fly away and you'll see no more of them in the mortar until next year. Meanwhile they will be busy pollinating in your garden for you, so please be kind for a couple of weeks and leave them bee.
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