Clackmannanshire Council Online

Bees - Pest Control

Bees - Pest Control

Problem

Besides being attractive, Bumble bees are beneficial to the environment, as they act as pollinators of many fruit trees and other plants. It is very unusual for Bumble bees to sting and in fact they have to be very severely provoked before they will do so. The sting however may be very painful. There is therefore every reason to conserve Bumble bees as they would not normally be troublesome in the house.

In northern Europe there are about ten different species of Bumble bee. But the species which nest most frequently in houses are Bumbus lapitarius and B. hypnorum.

The Honey bee, Apis mellifera, is also commonly found in this country.

Life Cycle

Unlike Honey bees, in which the whole colony survives the winter, a Bumble bee colony only lasts for a single season. This means that all the workers die in the Autumn so that only a few young mated queens survive and spend the winter in hibernation. Bumble bees seen in March flying low over the ground are usually these young queens, just emerged from their winter quarters, and are searching for suitable places in which to establish new colonies. Typical sites for building nests include holes in the ground, deserted mouse holes, in between stones in a farm wall, an empty nest box or old birds nests under the eaves of houses may also be used.

Once the queen has selected the site she starts to build her nest. If the space is too small she extends it, up to about the size of a clenched fist, and lines it with dry plants, moss or mouse hair. She builds a couple of small cells out of wax, each about the size of a thimble, one for stores and one to lay eggs in. The larvae which hatch are fed by the queen, who also has to fetch pollen and nectar. When fully grown the larvae pupate and a few days later they emerge as the first worker Bumble bees of the year. They are sometimes very small, simply because the queen has not been able to fetch sufficient food for them, but they now start to help with the building work and with collecting food, while the queen occupies herself more and more with egg laying. Later on in the summer a Bumble bee nest is well established with larvae, cells and stores along side each other. It does not have regular cells and the neat arrangement characteristic of a Honey Bee colony, nor is it so large, having at the most four hundred to five hundred occupants.

Control

Like Honey bee swarms, in most situations Bumble bee nests are left untouched. Very occasionally, however, it is necessary to remove a nest and this is achieved by the Pest Control Officer in most cases by use of insecticidal dust. The destruction of the nest is achieved by applying insecticide directly onto the nest or nest entrance. In this way insecticide is carried into the core of the nest and eradication will follow soon after. Honey bee swarms are generally captured and removed to a bee hive.

Treatment

The treatment is carried out using an approved insecticide. Further information on the insecticide is available on request.

The use of insecticide is carefully controlled by the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986. The Pest Control Officer is fully trained and necessary measures are taken to comply with the Health and Safety at Work, Etc. Act 1974 and Regulations thereunder.

Instructions will be given at the time of application in relation to safety of the house holder and pets. In some cases more than one application is necessary to ensure control.