Bees & Bumblebees: What To Do

Is it bees, wasps or something else?

Take a good look from a few steps back first, because plenty of “wasp nests” turn out to be bees.

• Bumblebees are round, furry and unhurried. The one we hear about most is the tree bumblebee: ginger on top, black in the middle and white at the tail. First found in Britain in 2001, it loves bird boxes, soffits and lofts. Other bumblebees nest low down, in compost bins, under decking or behind an airbrick.
• Honeybees are slimmer and less hairy, anything from golden to dark brown. A swarm is a hanging cluster of thousands of bees on a branch or fence, usually between May and July. A colony that has moved in shows as a steady stream of bees using one gap, week after week.
• Solitary bees nest alone, even when dozens sit side by side. Masonry bees use small holes in old mortar in spring, and mining bees leave tiny volcano-shaped heaps of soil on the lawn.
• Wasps are smooth, shiny, bright yellow and black, with a pinched waist. If that’s you, see our wasp nest removal page.
• Hoverflies wear wasp stripes but hang dead still in the air. They’re flies, and they can’t sting.

Why do bees choose Manchester homes?

Our houses are full of dry, sheltered gaps, and the gardens around them are full of flowers.

Much of Chorlton grew up around its railway station in the 1880s, and most of Levenshulme’s two-up two-downs went up between about 1880 and 1890. Houses of that age were usually built with soft lime mortar, and where it has weathered and crumbled it leaves exactly the holes masonry bees want, especially on a sunny wall. A chimney that’s no longer used is just the tall, dry cavity a honeybee swarm looks for.

Burnage is mostly semis from the 1930s and 1940s. Houses of that era typically have timber soffits, roomy lofts and, often, suspended timber floors ventilated by airbricks. Tree bumblebees head for the eaves and the loft; ground-nesting bumblebees slip through an airbrick into the void under the floor.

Then there’s the forage. Chorlton Ees and Sale Water Park are local nature reserves along the Mersey, Fog Lane Park on the Withington and Didsbury border has a wildflower area, and the Fallowfield Loop runs a long green strip behind houses in Levenshulme. Add the back gardens and bird boxes, and a house-hunting queen is spoilt for choice.

Season matters too. By September most bumblebee colonies have died off, so a nest that worried you in June is often a non-issue by the time the kids go back to school.

Can I just leave a bumblebee nest alone?

Usually, yes. A colony is small, from a few dozen to a few hundred bees, and it lasts one season, typically two to six months. The queen starts it alone in spring, the colony raises new queens and males, then dies; the new queens hibernate elsewhere and the nest is never reused. Tree bumblebee nests are often over by mid-summer.

Bumblebees aren’t aggressive. The little cloud around a bird box is mostly males waiting for new queens to emerge, a sign the nest is nearly done, and male bees can’t sting. Workers will defend a nest that’s knocked, so give the entrance some space and don’t mow straight over a ground nest. This usually isn’t about the law, as bees in England aren’t protected the way bats or nesting birds are. Treating a nest that will be gone in a few weeks just rarely makes sense, and the same bees are pollinating your fruit, veg and flowers.

What happens when you call us?

We’ll ask for a photo or short video, where the bees are going in and whether anyone at home has a sting allergy. Often that’s enough to answer there and then, with no visit needed.

A honeybee swarm is a job for a beekeeper, not a pest controller: the British Beekeepers Association website has a postcode search for volunteer swarm collectors, who only take honeybees.

If honeybees have settled inside a chimney, wall or roof, or a bumblebee nest sits right by a door or play area and someone at home is allergic, we’ll come and take a proper look. We’ll offer the earliest slot we have, often the same day. On the visit we confirm the species, find where the colony actually is and talk you through the options in plain English: leaving it, moving it if that’s realistic, a beekeeper or specialist removing an established honeybee colony, or, very occasionally, treatment.

We don’t routinely treat bees. If it truly is the only sensible option, say a serious allergy and no practical way to remove the colony, we’ll explain what’s involved first. A treated honeybee nest has to be sealed so foragers from healthy hives can’t carry the contaminated honey away, any insecticide must be used strictly as its label allows, and comb left in a wall can melt in summer and draw in other insects. It’s a last resort, never a quick fix.

Are bees a risk to children and pets?

Much less than most people fear. Bumblebees and solitary bees rarely sting unless they’re trodden on, grabbed or their nest is disturbed, and a hanging swarm is usually at its calmest, because it has no nest or honey to defend yet.

Keep children and pets back from the entrance or the swarm, teach little ones to watch rather than poke, and call the dog away from bees on the lawn, because snapping dogs are the usual casualties. Don’t block an entrance while bees are using it, or trapped bees may find their way into your rooms. If anyone has trouble breathing, swelling of the face, lips or throat, or feels faint after a sting, call 999.

How many visits will it take?

Often none. A photo and a conversation settle most bee questions. Where a visit helps, one is usually enough, with a short second visit to proof the gap once the colony has finished or a beekeeper has taken the honeybees away.

How do I stop bees using the same spot next year?

Bumblebees never reuse a nest, but a gap that suited one queen can suit another. Once the nest has died off, fit fine mesh over airbricks so the floor still ventilates, repair split soffits and seal gaps around pipes and the loft hatch. Clean bird boxes out in autumn once nothing is using them. An old nest left in loft insulation is worth bagging up, because the debris can feed carpet beetle larvae.

An old honeybee site, especially with comb still inside, smells like home to the next swarm, so the comb needs clearing and the gap closing properly. A cowl or mesh guard on an unused chimney pot is often the simplest fix.

For masonry bees, repointing crumbling mortar removes the nest holes. On Victorian brick a builder will usually recommend lime rather than hard cement, which can damage soft bricks. In a conservation area, such as Albert Park in West Didsbury or Chorltonville, check with the council’s planning team before changing the look of the front of the house.

When does DIY stop being enough?

For most bumblebee and solitary bee nests, doing nothing is the best DIY there is. Get help when honeybees are using a chimney, wall, roof or floor, when bees keep turning up indoors, or when the nest is beside a door and someone at home is allergic.

Please don’t spray a nest, pour boiling water or bleach into it, seal the entrance or try to shake a swarm into a box. That’s how people get stung, and with honeybees it can poison healthy colonies nearby.

Is it my job or my landlord’s?

It depends on your tenancy and how the bees are getting in; a short-lived bumblebee nest in the garden isn’t usually anybody’s job. If bees are using a defect, such as a broken airbrick, a gap at the eaves or an open chimney pot, the repair normally falls to the landlord under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which covers the structure and exterior of most rented homes. Councils can assess serious pest problems under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 gives tenants a route to act if a home isn’t fit to live in. In a converted house or a block of flats, bees in the roof or communal parts are usually one for the freeholder or managing agent. Report it in writing, with a photo and the date you first noticed.

Small shops and cafés can usually leave a bumblebee nest in a planter with a little space around it; just keep food, sugary drinks and waste covered, as food hygiene law expects. Our domestic pest control and commercial pest control pages cover whatever else turns up.