Bee swarm in Glanmire Sunday

sham2

hi all,
Just to inform, provoke comment etc. We had a swarm of bees invade our back garden Sunday afternoon about 3pm in Glanmire. Scared the hell out of my wife who was sitting out feeding our 9 week old. She had to jump into the shed for cover. They came through in about 30 secs and were gone again. I was inside the house and just saw them from the kitchen window. It was like something from a movie. Thousands of the things and the noise!! Both us were shaking afterwards. Never seen anything like it in my life. Mored scared for the baby than anything else.

R

Hogzy

holy crap!!!

Roar

something similar happened while i was playing football in leisureworld a week or so back.. all we heard was the noise of them, and they flew over the pitch at a height of about 15 feet.. cool, but kinda scary..

Cadyboo

Have seen similar in the car park in work. Was parked up and i could hear the noise, I looked over and saw the black mist (only way to describe it). I was haunted that I saw them because I had time to roll up the window. They were very low down and would have come straight into the car!

bertie1

sham2 wrote: »

hi all,
Just to inform, provoke comment etc. We had a swarm of bees invade our back garden Sunday afternoon about 3pm in Glanmire. Scared the hell out of my wife who was sitting out feeding our 9 week old. She had to jump into the shed for cover. They came through in about 30 secs and were gone again. I was inside the house and just saw them from the kitchen window. It was like something from a movie. Thousands of the things and the noise!! Both us were shaking afterwards. Never seen anything like it in my life. Mored scared for the baby than anything else.

R

Were they caught , i would be more than happy to take them away , (not too far away just over beyond Knockraha)

sham2

Sorry but I definitely did not catch them. I was too busy freaking out. I'd be interested to know how an earth you would catch them?
R

bertie1

Eventually they will land on a tree or go into a hollow or cavity of some sort. When they take off like that ( swarm ) its natures way of making sure they survive and multiply. If they have only just taken off their stomaches are full of honey and even though there are thousands of them there they gather calmly in a ball somewhere eventually. It they land on a branch they will gather in a cluster ( around the queen ) get her in the box & they all follow. I have the protective clothing for doing it. I wouldn't chance it with it.

Deliverance

I've noticed a lot more bees this summer compared to the previous terrible summers that we have had. Kind of comforting in a way (despite the OP's swarm). Bees' polinate the flowers and are part of the eco system. I did hear via general hype previously that they were on the decline due to a mite that infected them?

I wonder is the recent good weather causing them to thrive and as such and swarm?

mudokon

Deliverance wrote: »

I've noticed a lot more bees this summer compared to the previous terrible summers that we have had. Kind of comforting in a way (despite the OP's swarm). Bees' polinate the flowers and are part of the eco system. I did hear via general hype previously that they were on the decline due to a mite that infected them?

I wonder is the recent good weather causing them to thrive and as such and swarm?

I had some in my front garden living under the ground? I wanted to get rid of them as I didnt want people to get stung so I asked in the gardening forum and they were saying it was illegal to get rid of them as bee populations were in decline.

Deliverance

mudokon wrote: »

I had some in my front garden living under the ground? I wanted to get rid of them as I didnt want people to get stung so I asked in the gardening forum and they were saying it was illegal to get rid of them as bee populations were in decline.

At one stage there was a fear that they would become extinct. Possibly hype as I mentioned. But obviously there is some truth in all of this due to the protection mentioned.

I would imagine though that they could be relocated by an expert beekeeper if they proved to be a threat. I witnessed a massive hive on a tree 3ft of the ground in a council estates park which caused lots of concern a few years back.

Nobody knew what to do about it, a concerned lady called my attention to it, I was just passing at the time. it was a large hive accessible to kids i.e. 3ft. I wonder if there is a process in place to deal with this type of situation, i.e. a specific numbre or organisation that can relocate the bees?

It would be handy to have such a resource to contact as such.

bertie1

mudokon wrote: »

I had some in my front garden living under the ground? I wanted to get rid of them as I didnt want people to get stung so I asked in the gardening forum and they were saying it was illegal to get rid of them as bee populations were in decline.

They are unlikely to be honey bees if they are living in the ground unless there is a large cavity like a manhole for them , they wouldn't have enough room

largepants

bertie1 its good to hear someone who has some idea about bees/wasps. Recently at my sons communion there was a swarm of wasps (i think) outside the church. Quite daunting to look at but I was told that it they are swarming they are quite placid. Is this true?

OP, it i may I'd like to ask Bertie a question regarding wasps. That same evening my kids were playing in their playhouse and they spotted the beginning of a wasps nest. It was only the size of ping pong ball (quite similar to a lampshade). Anyway we got rid of it and I apologise if this wasn't the right thing to do but with so many lids around I wasn't willing to take a chance. Just wondering if there is a chance that they will return at this stage? Is there any way to prevent wasps/bees nesting in any of my sheds ot their playhouse again.

Thanks in advance and sorry for deviating OP.

mudokon

Deliverance wrote: »

At one stage there was a fear that they would become extinct. Possibly hype as I mentioned. But obviously there is some truth in all of this due to the protection mentioned.

I would imagine though that they could be relocated by an expert beekeeper if they proved to be a threat. I witnessed a massive hive on a tree 3ft of the ground in a council estates park which caused lots of concern a few years back.

Nobody knew what to do about it, a concerned lady called my attention to it, I was just passing at the time. it was a large hive accessible to kids i.e. 3ft. I wonder if there is a process in place to deal with this type of situation, i.e. a specific numbre or organisation that can relocate the bees?

It would be handy to have such a resource to contact as such.

Link
That is a link to the thread I started, there are some links in there that you might find useful.

bertie1 wrote: »

They are unlikely to be honey bees if they are living in the ground unless there is a large cavity like a manhole for them , they wouldn't have enough room

No it was just a small hole in the ground, in the link above is what kind of bee I thought they were but I'm no expert so I could have been wrong.

cdaly_

I remember many years ago I was upstairs in the house when one of my kids called from the garden: "Dad, come and look". Looked out the window through the black head-height swarm of bees covering the entire garden at my three kids standing camly looking at them! "Come on inside and look at them from up here. You'll see them better"...

They settled on a tree in the next door garden. We called Rentokill who said "bees are protected. We can't help but we'll give you the number of a beekeeper." Called them and they came out, collected the swarm and off they went.

largepants wrote:

beginning of a wasps nest.

I had the beginning of a wasp nest in my shed one spring. It was just the queen getting started at that stage. I waited untill she was inside the nest, then covered it with a jam jar, sliced it off the roof and popped the lid on. Drove it away up the road to a field and released it there...

Dan Dare

mudokon wrote: »

Link
That is a link to the thread I started, there are some links in there that you might find useful.



Thanks for that link Mudokon- interesting

sham2

bertie1 wrote: »

Eventually they will land on a tree or go into a hollow or cavity of some sort. When they take off like that ( swarm ) its natures way of making sure they survive and multiply. If they have only just taken off their stomaches are full of honey and even though there are thousands of them there they gather calmly in a ball somewhere eventually. It they land on a branch they will gather in a cluster ( around the queen ) get her in the box & they all follow. I have the protective clothing for doing it. I wouldn't chance it with it.

Thanks Bertie1,
You are more than welcome to have a look in the area if you want. They were heading in a southerly direction and would pass through wooded areas in Castlejane Woods and then around Church Hill that leads into Glanmire village. That said they could have gone anywhere. The area has many large woods. None of the neighbours had a clue about it. Goes to show you how fast they were moving. Haven't seen anything since. Although the odd wasp in the back is enough to freak me out now.
R

bertie1

sent you a pm in case it happens again , ideally they should land on low branch.