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Tawny Mining Bees

richard_johnsonrichard_johnson Posts: 5
in Wildlife gardening
Hi, I have just dug out a pond ready for a liner to be put in this week and we are getting lots of bees mining their way into the hole I’ve dug! Is there a way of encouraging them to leave their new homes before the liner is installed and filled with water? I really don’t want to trap them in their burrows and inadvertently kill them. Cheers!

Posts

  • FireFire LondonPosts: 5,324
    Maybe dig another smaller hole nearby and put up signs. A very light sprinkling with a hose / sprinkler (at a distance) might encourage them to move house for a season.
  • richard_johnsonrichard_johnson Posts: 5
    Fire said:
    Maybe dig another smaller hole nearby and put up signs. A very light sprinkling with a hose / sprinkler (at a distance) might encourage them to move house for a season.
     :D  It was difficult enough digging the first one! Ha! They don’t seem fazed by the hosepipe. Have seen a fairly cheap bee smoker online so might give that a try!? Or put my incinerator in the hole and get a smoky little fire going.
  • JellyfireJellyfire SuffolkPosts: 739
    I think smoking them just calms them rather than deters them, so you might just end up making them all have a little snooze rather than fleeing
  • FireFire LondonPosts: 5,324
    Could you flood the hole slowly (over a few days) and give the bees time to get away?
  • richard_johnsonrichard_johnson Posts: 5
    You could well be right about smoking them out, but if there is a bit of heat from a fire too they might think their nest is on fire and evacuate? Not sure but it’s worth a try.
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