Bees

The first thing that should be noted is bees do not sting unless they are provoked.

There are four types of bee you might see in your garden:
- Bumble Bee,
- Honey Bee,
- Ground or Mining Bee and
- Masonry Bee

Bumble Bee

Bumble bees are very common insects. Inside the nest of a group of bumble bees it's just like our human society, gathering food, looking after the young, building and defending the home. Bumble bees have very few natural enemies.

• Bumble bees are less aggressive than honeybees
• Generally they will not attack humans at all, unless they are threatened
• Don’t wave your arms about stand quietly once they know you are not a flower they will move away
• Bumble bees do not lose their sting and die if they use it, as a honeybee will.

- Size: 19mm to 38mm
- Colour: Black and yellow
- Description: Hairy bees that collect pollen on the back legs to bring it back to the hive
- Habitat: The bumble bee will make its home in a variety of places including, bird boxes, compost heaps, and abandoned mouse holes in the ground.
- Control: It is not necessary to destroy the nest of bees as they are beneficial to the garden and they are normally docile and unaggressive while foraging on flowers. Individual bumble bees that get into the house can be controlled with an aerosol.

Honey Bee

Honey bees have a barbed sting that becomes detached along with a venom sac after a sting. Immediately remove the sting and venom sac by gently scrapping or flicking the stinger with a fingernail or knife. Do not use tweezers or try to squeeze out the stinger as this will push more venom into the wound. Wash the sting with soap and water and apply ice to minimise the pain and swelling.

- Colour: Covered in golden brown and black hair
- Description: The honey bee is covered with short, dense hair, normally golden-brown and black, its body is striped and there are three types of bee in the colony - workers, drones and queens
- Habitat: Like to be around flowers and flowering trees
- Life cycle: The queen is responsible for reproduction. The drones mate with new queens and the workers. The workers job is to feed the queen, gather pollen and nectar and protect the hive
- Control: When honey bees make a nest in your house or other undesirable places you can either get the help of a local beekeeper or do the job yourself.

Remember that after the bees are killed they must be removed with their comb nest and honey. Unremoved honey soon begins to decompose and can seep out of the comb causing odour problems and possible infestations from other insects such as ants and flies.

Ground or Mining Bee

These vary considerably as there are so many different types in the UK alone, they like sandy soils and little can be done to stop them other than altering the texture of the soil by adding large amounts of peat or other composts but not sand. You will often see these bees coming out of holes in the lawn or at the bottom of the garden.

There is no need to control them but if you wish to remove the bees because of young children, it can be done yourself using ant powder. It is best treated at night or dusk, as it is cooler and most of the bees will be back in the nest.

These bees rarely sting so are not classed as a public health hazard.

Masonry Bee

The masonry bee is a type of ground bee that will normally live in the ground, but if this type of bee finds soft mortar between the bricks of a wall it is unable to distinguish between the mortar and its natural habitat. If you find bees going into holes in the brickwork of your home, fill the holes with a hard mortar mix to stop the bees digging it out to get back to the nest.

• Although these bees have a sting it can not penetrate the skin
• It is not considered a public health hazard