weft2 wrote:

When you write "bumble bees" are you sure you're not referring to
yellow jackets (a wasp)? Because yellow jackets have a nasty habit of
burrowing near the base of a building.

Wasps bite and one can/will bite a number of times. Where bees use
their stinger once and they're done.

Patrick

I assume these are bumblebees and not carpenter bees (?), because
they're making holes in the dirt/ground around the bottom of the shed,
and not right through the wood. There's a large gap under the whole
shed floor that is only filled with concrete dust/light gravel, so
there's still lots of room for anything to get in under the subfloor.
Probably around 3-4"s.

The problem is, the shed is in a very small, enclosed area at the side
of the house, and since it's now October, I can't wait any longer to
start to clean it out and prepare to load the winter storage items in
it. But every time I step into the shed near the door, the bees come
flying out from their burrows right at us, and we've been stung a
couple of times, espc. since there's little room for us to move around
and get through. Even walking by the side of the shed, without going
into it, is difficult, because the bees will still come out as you walk
by.

We probably would have been stung even more if we had tried to access
the shed more often, but the bees are definitely keeping us away.
Shouldn't the little devils be closing up shop by now, since it's
October? I know we've had some pretty warm days this Fall (Zone 4 or 5
Ontario/Quebec border), but what is the lifespan of these things?