Bee influx into house, dead bees everywhere!

[blissful urchin]

Over the last couple of weeks bees keep appearing in my lounge. I've identified them as hairy footed flower bees, they have all been female and theres been about 20 so far. Unfortunately I've been away quite a lot so havent been able to save them all - I guess they dehydrate and die if I dont get to them in time, which is a bit distressing.

The only place I can think that theyre coming in is a small gap under the gas fire where the pipes feed into the chimney, the rest of the room seems pretty sealed.

I'm guessing they are coming out of hibernation in the chimney and for some reason going down the chimney and into my room rather than the hole they went into?

Could anyone shed more light on this?
For one, I thought these bees were solitary, why are there so many together? Is it only females that hibernate - do males die off over winter? Might they be following each others pheromones to mistakenly come into the house? When can I expect to stop finding dead bees and will it help if I temporarily block the hole (or does that mean bees might die at the bottom of the chimney without a chance of me putting them outside?). Do these bees sting? (just in case i should watch out for walking round bare footed!)

Hope some of you knowledgeable bee-people can help me!



Lastly if anyone wants a dead female hairyfooted flower bee for their collection I have quite a few!

[eucera]

Originally Posted by blissful urchin

Over the last couple of weeks bees keep appearing in my lounge. I've identified them as hairy footed flower bees, they have all been female and theres been about 20 so far. Unfortunately I've been away quite a lot so havent been able to save them all - I guess they dehydrate and die if I dont get to them in time, which is a bit distressing.!

It is possible that these have just simply died at the end of a busy active life. Check the state of the wing margins: frayed and worn might suggest natural death

~SNIP~

Originally Posted by blissful urchin

I'm guessing they are coming out of hibernation in the chimney and for some reason going down the chimney and into my room rather than the hole they went into?

No guarantee of this. The bees have been active for quite a while now. You don't say where you are so it is not possible to give any indication of just how long they may already have been active, but I would expect females to have been around for at least 5 weeks by now... and probably as much as 7-8 in favourable parts of the country. They could well be nesting in soft mortar on the inside of a chimney

Originally Posted by blissful urchin

For one, I thought these bees were solitary, why are there so many together? Is it only females that hibernate - do males die off over winter? Might they be following each others pheromones to mistakenly come into the house? When can I expect to stop finding dead bees and will it help if I temporarily block the hole (or does that mean bees might die at the bottom of the chimney without a chance of me putting them outside?). Do these bees sting? (just in case i should watch out for walking round bare footed!)?

1) Yes they are "Solitary". That means that they do not assist one another in foraging or nest construction. However, they may live next to one another. This is analagous to city living.

2) Both sexes develop in their brood cells and overwinter as fully formed adults within them. This is very different to what you find in bumble bees which are genuinely social, and with only the mated queens hibernating.

3) The active period is really March-early May... but in some years they may extend later. I suspect the long warm spell in the heart of the species range means they will finish their nest provisioning earlier than they might if there were prolonged periods of inclement weather.

4) These bees always nest in vertical faces of suitable clay/mortar/cob. I suspect you have a nesting aggregation in your chimney somewhere. Worth checking to see if amongst the dead cadavers, you have any of the parasitic bees associated with them, Melecta albifrons. I was at a nesting aggregation in a cob wall yesterday, and saw at least 8 active Melecta females around the nest burrows. The Melecta would be very dark, but completely lacking the orange pollen collecting hairs on the hind legs

5) Will it help...? Well... only you can know what you want to achieve!

6) The bees (females any way) possess a sting... but are extremely unlikely to use it unless you were to tread on one in bare feet or squeeze one between your fingers.

Hope this helps

Stuart

[blissful urchin]

[quote=eucera;114165]It is possible that these have just simply died at the end of a busy active life. Check the state of the wing margins: frayed and worn might suggest natural death


Wings appear complete. The live bees I've found have all seemed quite 'groggy' not really able to fly very well even after release outside so maybe they are coming to the end of their lives naturally.



No guarantee of this. The bees have been active for quite a while now. You don't say where you are so it is not possible to give any indication of just how long they may already have been active, but I would expect females to have been around for at least 5 weeks by now... and probably as much as 7-8 in favourable parts of the country. They could well be nesting in soft mortar on the inside of a chimney


I'm in Exeter - so quite far south so I guess tehy would have been out for quite a few weeks. Just seems odd they have only started coming into the house in the last 2 weeks.



2) Both sexes develop in their brood cells and overwinter as fully formed adults within them. This is very different to what you find in bumble bees which are genuinely social, and with only the mated queens hibernating.

How long do the adults live in the spring then? Until they have made a new nest/laid eggs?


4) These bees always nest in vertical faces of suitable clay/mortar/cob. I suspect you have a nesting aggregation in your chimney somewhere. Worth checking to see if amongst the dead cadavers, you have any of the parasitic bees associated with them, Melecta albifrons. I was at a nesting aggregation in a cob wall yesterday, and saw at least 8 active Melecta females around the nest burrows. The Melecta would be very dark, but completely lacking the orange pollen collecting hairs on the hind legs

They all have the orange back legs although i did have one insect I released the other day which was smaller, all black and kind of looked more like a fly but I dont think it was. I did take a photo but I dont think I've been a member long enough to post attachmenets yet!


5) Will it help...? Well... only you can know what you want to achieve!

I dont have huge ambitions!!! I just dont want to be the cause of early bee death because of my lounge trap!!! its been great to learn about them though, im sure i wouldnt have got to know them if they hadnt been getting in.



Thanks very much for your bee-witching knowledge!!