Bees in the yard. To kill or to let bee?

Submitted by tired_gardener on Mon, 08/04/2008 - 22:09

This weekend, I was working on my new herb garden. I cleared out some brush in the area and was trying to level the area and pull up the stump that was left from one of the bushes that was removed. I dug up a bunch of bulbs, enough to half fill a kitty litter tub. Next, I dug around the stump. Got one side dug down a little and started on the other. About a minute later I felt this sharp pain in my ankle and ran for the door.

I got my shoe and sock off, had my wife go to the car for the first aid kit, with the sting relief pads. Once the pain subsided, I put on the sock and shoe and returned. I assumed that I got stung by a rough bee that I pissed off, so I started digging again, but I kept my eyes open, just in case.

About two shovel fulls when I saw about 10 bees coming out of a hole a right at the fence line. It had been well hidden by the bushes that had been there, now it is right out in the open. I'm unsure what to do.

I can go out there and spray, killing them all, and be free of any potential stings to myself or my family. At the same time, the bees might help to pollinate my garden. I've also read about the loss of bees recently and don't want to add to the low bee numbers by killing an entire hive. What to do, what to do.

I don't know much about bees. I think I need to do a little research and find out what kind of bees they are. If they are yellow jackets, then I guess I should just kill them. If they are a more friendly bee, that would not have attacked me, if I had not been attacking their nest, then maybe I could just figure out a way to protect that nest and let them bee. For now, there is a stick in the fence, marking their nest and the herb garden is places on a temporary hold. It is going in containers anyway, so the containers have been set up, just not in the permanent location.

Comments

Pollinators

Submitted by Rich Dansereau (not verified) on Fri, 08/08/2008 - 09:50.

I have allergies to bees. I also have a pretty sizable garden (you can read about it on my blog!)I work in my garden daily and have yet to be stung by any of the numerous varieties of bees, wasps, hornets, and the like. I pick pea pods that have bees all around them. I am very careful not to swat them, but I do pick the veggies trying to avoid touching any of the stinging insects. If there is one on a particular veggies that needs picking, I will sometimes wait a few seconds and it often flies off. I need all the varieties of bees and such or I would not be able to harvest any veggies, not to mention wildflowers from my wildflower garden.

I want them in my garden,

Submitted by tired_gardener on Fri, 08/08/2008 - 10:02.

I want them in my garden, I'm just a little worried about their location. I need to dig in that area as there are several stumps that I planned on removing. Removing them would damage their nest and get me stung. For now, I'm protecting the nest. Maybe next year I'll remove the stumps, if the nest has moved on. Or maybe I'll just garden around it, and plant some things to protect the nest a little, leaving the stumps to naturally rot (keeping them trimmed continuously so that they don't grow back).

At this point, I plan on protecting the nest and keeping it there. I don't want to loose my little pollinators.

I had considered damaging

Submitted by tired_gardener on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 15:06.

I had considered damaging it, but there are a couple of problems with that. 1. it is below ground, so might be hard to damage it. 2. I might just be moving them to the neighbors who will kill them. But, I suppose moving them to the neighbors might give them a better chance at life than if I just sprayed them. Still only the one sting, so maybe they are not a vengeful type. Maybe we can coexist peaceably. Or maybe I just haven't worked in that area enough to anger them enough. I dunno... I have not had a lot of time recently. Have a big web-layout project I got hired for and client review starts Monday.... (hence no recent posts)

Bee Hive in fruit bushes

Submitted by Richard McLaughlin (not verified) on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 01:59.

I have an above ground hive in with some of my berries. I was stung a dozen times over 3 days, so I damaged the hive, but did not destroy it. They seem to be moving on (to the neighbors yard?). Better than killng them, but not letting them stay.