bees in my stable! Advice desperatly saught

[Miss S Bird]

Hi all

I have a problem. There are some bees that have decided to make a home in my stable. They fly in the gap between the wall and the wooden support that holds up my mare's hay-rack.

I think they are bumble bees. They're pretty big, look a little fuzzy, have bold black and yellow stripes and a white tail. I know bumble bees are either on or close to being on the endangered species list, and I know this is of great concern to enviromentalists. For this purpose I really don't want to just take a spray and kill them.

but where they are is really not ideal. I read on the website that they don't like to be disturbed, but this will happen to them where they are. My horse will be in her stable every night until May, and often during the day. After May she will go out in the field for most of the time, but there will still be periods where stabling is necessary. Where the bees have chosen to site their home is right by her haynets. She could aggrivate them by shaking her nets about and hitting them. You cannot explain to a horse to stay out the way until the bee is gone.

I can also see the bees are stressing her. Whenever one comes into the stable she is immediatly alarmed. This is really not ideal as she is already a mare who is prone to getting upset. My vet was up today and advised I get rid of them; horses can go into anaphylatic shock. We're not always around so I may not notice in time, and even then vets bills are ludicrously high. I don't want one if it can be helped! Even if she doesn't have a reaction the lump that would appear if she was stung would be a problem to me. She is a competition horse and needs to stay in good health during the summer.

I'm constantly in the way of their flight path. Today I nearly 'collided' with a bee twice whilst mucking out. And my sister who has a phobia of them ran from the stable.

And the final problem is come the end of May the entire stable will get jet washed to remove dust and dirt. This is for my horses' health, I can't not do it. Water will probably end up in that crack, and the little trail they seem to follow up the wall to the entrance (I don't know if they lay a scent or something?) will probably get washed off, leaving them disorintated and confused. The stable then also gets the wood treated to help maintain it, and again this would damage this path and possibly destroy the fumes.

I'm really at a loss. I don't want to kill the bees, they're quite fun to watch on the wall. but where they are is a real problem to me. Please help me! A part of me wants to just kill them off for the ease of it, but I don't have the heart to do that, especially to an endangered animal.

Sorry this is so long :( I'm just so confused.

[Chris]

"Horses can go into anaphylactic shock". Your vet is right, and so can people. But the phenomenon is very uncommon.

Bumble bees are gentle creatures and it usually takes quite a lot to get one to sting - like sitting on one or accidentally putting your hand down on one. And their is clear risk to anyone (or any animal) which might disturb a bumble bee nest. Bumble bees mostly just want to get on with their business and they will come and go from their nest without bothering people or animals in their flight path. They 'bumble' around people/animals in the way.

Bumble bees do not build nests out in the open. Their nests are usually down some hole somewhere or other, and they often nest in an old mouse nest. While I can't see inside your stable, I would guess the nest is quite deep inside the 'wall cavity' that you speak off - I wouldn't think that your horse could easily disturb it.

Maybe think in two ways:-

1/ Have a think if you could perhaps drill or make some alternative hole which they could fly from in a direction away from the inside of the stable. If you see evidence that they are using this 'safe' flight hole, stick a sock in their old hole. keep horse and yourself away for a day until they learn their new flight path.

2/ If you can't think of a way of encouraging the bees to use an alternative flight hole, then killing them might be the best option. If it is the white-tailed bumble bee, they are not protected. Perhaps the risk to your horse isn't in the 'significant' or 'huge' category, but your horse obviously means a huge amount to you and it is perhaps sensible to rule out any risk to this animal. A bee sting on your horse's head is a bit of a bummer and will ruin its day.

Note that bumble bee nests die out at the end of the summer, so it is not as if they are in your stable for good. And note that as the nest grows there will be more and more bees - but bumble bee nests are never huge affairs. A bee a minute at their busiest, perhaps in July.

[RoofTops]

Like many I like bumblebees and am a member of a bees and wasps society (BWARS). However, everything has its place and if these bees have just set up home - it is very early in the year so the nest can't be very big yet I think, they will probably become much more of a problem as the summer arrives and action will have to be taken. So it is probably best to get the pain over with sooner rather than later.

Assuming it is not practical to move the horse, try to give the bees another entrance as suggested and block up the old entrance, assuming it is a hole in a wall. You could also of course just try blocking up the gap they use to enter the stable but they will still find a way in I expect.

In the end it may require the pest control man. I have heard horses do not like bees, although I've seen them share a field happily before, but in the confines of a stable if it is stressing the animal then you need to take action. The bees will die out eventually then you could block up the nest hole but if they are bumblebees this will not be for several months. Some types of bee just have a single generation each year so their breeding activity stops after a month or so but bumblebees will - bumble along for months.

Not a pretty answer but it sounds as if the current position can't continue.

[Johnn]

If the nest is accessible a local beekeeper should be able to remove and rehouse them somewhere more appropriate. I would offer to look at it myself but unfortunately live in London. Otherwise I agree with RoofTops they should be removed before a valuable animal is harmed.

If you are worried about the damage this would do to the bumble bee population put out some nesting boxes, filled with a little rodent bedding, in the spring. If you see any dopy bumble queens on the ground at this time of year they may have run out of energy. Give them a drink of sugar syrup and sometimes they fly away again. It is amazing how often, an apparently completely moribund bee, will recover.

Whatever, take care of the horse.

[Miss S Bird]

Well I was going to try and make an alternative entrance for the bees, but they appear to have made the decision to leave themselves. I havn't seen any of them for four days now, despite being in and around the stable more than I usually would be. Perhaps my horse disturbed them too much..

Regardless, thankyou very much for the advise. Once I'm completely certain the bees have left I will block up the hole to make sure they don't return. There are plenty of other nooks and crannies in somewhat abandoned barns and builds around the stables that they could use instead :)

[Chris]

What you had coming was just the one bee - a queen. You kept seeing the same bee. She might have settled down for a few days to rear some of her young, after provisioning her nest with some nectar and pollen.