This was the sight that faced me when I went into our bedroom yesterday afternoon to start clearing my chest of drawers so we could move the furniture out as we're having a new carpet laid . . . Needless to say, with a swarm settling in the chimney I had a sudden change of plan! We used to have the bottom of this chimney blocked with a piece of chipboard but it had warped and when I was painting I removed it. A bad move!
We phoned our builder Steve, who happens to be a beekeeper and he advised us that these were probably just Scout bees, ahead of the swarm. Sadly he was wrong (see picture below of swarm on chimney . . .) So then he suggested lighting a smudge fire in the chimney to make it unwelcoming for them. Don't worry he said, the ones in the window will be out before dark and then the swarm will probably come down the chimney as they won't be out overnight. Then he really cheered me up by telling me that they would probably die over the winter anyway. "But it's SPRING now!", I wailed!!
Anyway, this is a better photo taken this morning of the swarm - looks as it did last night actually! - and I am hoping they will take off for another victim. Our next door neighbour up the hill had a swarm in her attic too - the Pest Control people turned up here looking for her (we're the centre of the postcode). This warm weather has set them off early. What was the old saying, "a swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay?"
My good man set too and effected a chimney block with the old piece of wood and Gorilla Gaffer Tape (will have to paint this over since Jungle is not a good look for a bedroom!) and all the bees are evicted now. I have a few to hoover up from the Morning Room too as they came down the chimney there and then got stuck in the cobwebs around the window. Says a lot about my housekeeping I know, but useful on this occasion! I only clean the windows in there a couple of times a year, but now is obviously the time, ahead of the house going back on the market.
I must mention that Steve told me a wonderful tale of one of his mates in the local Bee Keepers Association, who was called to a swarm in a bungalow chimney. This was a dormant chimney which wasn't used. He lit a smudge fire which went up the chimney, then to his horror he realized that it was a chimney which must have been colonized by bees for many years when molten wax and honey (and dead bees) ended up in the fireplace - there was a terrific chimney fire and the bungalow burned down!! So we had to cross our fingers mightily before lighting OUR smudge fire!!
Ah, the joys of country living . . .
Oh my goodness. We have a similar problem each summer. A chap keeps one hive in the field next to us and every summer they swarm and seem to prefer our chimney, which is unfortunate for us as we do use the open fire all winter. The first time this happened we found black bees dropping down the chimney and stumbling their way around our sitting room, making a mess by leaving sooty marks all over the carpet and furniture. Now, if we see the scouts in time we try to take action to deter them, usually my husband climbing up on the roof with a can of insect spray several times a day!
ReplyDeleteHi JayCee - glad I'm not the only one. We don't want to kill them, obviously, with colonies being ravaged by natural disasters like Varroa mite, and then Colony Collapse Disorder not to mention them being wiped out by chemicals.
DeleteFortunately our bees didn't have sooty feet! but we think that the Queen may have fallen into the smudge fire bucket as a chunk of bees fell down the chimney when it was lit. They seemed to have spent the night in the chimney but have been outside ON it again, in the rain all day, rather than swarming somewhere else. No way could we reach that chimney - it's about 30 plus feet up!
That last bit made me laugh, sorry. Glad you got it sorted.
ReplyDeleteI will confess to supressing a slight snigger myself - gosh, he got that one wrong didn't he?!
DeleteGlad you seem to have sorted out the problem. We had a swarm once in the back garden but thankfully never in the house!
ReplyDeleteThere were 3 swarms that day, all within a half mile area, so it must have been a bigger colony breaking up. Chap is here now, hoping to tempt them into a baited box . . .
DeleteKnow you have had a terrible night with asthma as well, so hope you got in touch with the nurse and she has helped. Bees down the chimneys don't sound good, but I am sure they will eventually find a home.
ReplyDeleteBees hopefully packing their bags now and I may have to see Consultant for tests tomorrow at the hospital. I was getting better until the bee incident and smoking them out . . .
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