Bee Starvation

[newbie99]

Hi I have some bee started to nest in the brick air vent. I have sealed the hole now. But wonder how long I should leave to ensure all the bee is starved?

[jomifl]

Honey bees are not all sweetness.. some wild strains can be aggressive and will attack people without provocation some distance from their nest. I think it is most likely that your bees are indeed masonry bees. Do you not know anybody that can tell one bee from another?

[boxtops]

That's awful, newbie - please unseal it and contact your local beekeepers. We are very short of bees in general, killing them is not the right thing to do.

[EcclesCake]

Jomifl, I do hope you are not suggesting that there is such a thing as a domesticated honey bee!

Yes, some colonies are aggressive, on that we agree.

It is very, very unlikely that newbie has a swarm of honey bees. The calm manner of the post implies that there are a small number going in and out of the vent, if it was a true swarm of honey bees newbie would have posted very differently.

[jomifl]

Yes Eccles, an early summer swarm, could easily have 30,000 bees..which might be a bit more panic inducing :o)

[Peter Pedant]

I saw masonry bees using an air-vent
and painted it with creosote. Making sure the tunnel had a good coat.

They found somewhere else....

[Milvus]

At the risk of being pedantic Peter, they are mason bees not masonry

[EcclesCake]

Mason/masonry/mortar are all considered acceptable as far as I'm aware.

[EcclesCake]

Jomifl, 30,000 would be exceptional 10k is closer to the norm.

[Milvus]

Pedantry always carries a risk. Stung, I withdraw :(

[EcclesCake]

Sorry Milvus :-)

I'm just feeling a bit irritable with all the armchair apiarists!

[Milvus]

No problem Ecclescake, my mistake. I'd never heard of them called mortar bees and always thought masonry bees was wrong. I must remember two phrases
if you are being pedantic, then you must be sure you are correct.
If at first you don't succeed, never take up skydiving :)