Alexander,

they were under the shed in the ground. They were big and black, they didnt look too aggrssive though.

So what exactly do bumble bees do in their lifetime?

On 25 Jun 2003 05:52:08 -0700, (Beecrofter) wrote:

(Leo Shea) wrote in message . com...
I was in my garage last night when I picked up a mop and discovered a
bunch of bees underneath the mop on the garage floor! It was pretty
dark in that corner of the garage even with the lights on, but I did
see that they looked fairly large.

After I picked up the mop they made a buzzing noise but didn't leave
the floor immediately. 10-15 seconds later one took off at which
point I ran back into the house. I never noticed them in the garage
before, and I have been in the garage a few times lately (I don't park
in the garage).

Any idea what kind of bees these may be? And how safe would it be to
open the garage door at night, spray them with wasp/hornet spray from
15-20 ft. away, then run? They're against the left wall of the garage
close to the garage door.

Thanks,
Leo


First time out of the condo unescorted?

Now, now--be nice. (heh, heh!) My first encounter, 25 years ago,
with a carpenter bee scared the bejeezus out of me. Heard this
buzzing sound at the end of a pile of 4x4's, bent down to look closer
at the one with 3 neatly bored holes in the cut off end, when out he
came! He sounded like (and looked big as) an overloaded B25 on
take-off! Yikes!

A single bee flew up after being disturbed and you are in a panic?
Here is what you most likely have.
Bumblebees who have made their home in the remains of an old mouse
nest behind or under your old mop. Or have just used the mop itself as
conditions were similar to an old mouse nest which these bees prefer.
Now odd as it may sound you might just be able to coexist with them
and benefit from their presence by improved garden and wildflower
pollination.
Walk outside the back of the garage in the daylight and see if they
are coming and going by a crack near the garage wall /floor.
If you want to keep them put a few rags over the mop inside the garage
and allow them to come and go out the wall.
If you insist on destroying them put a half cup of dish detergent in a
bucket of water and pour it over the mop and nest and soak it
thoroughly.
I keep honeybees in an absolutely bee-proof T shirt and flip flops.
Don't go killing anything until you learn a little about it, you might
just want to share some space with it.

A most interesting slant, Tom!

After last summer's plague of yellow jackets (stop calling 'em "bees"
willya, people!) I find I take much more kindly to the other more
peaceful (though equally well-armed) members of the insect world.
[OK, black widders excepted]

I can now watch with benign interest those industrious little honey
bees, paper wasps, and mud daubers, as they go about their business.

--John W. Wells

Tom

John W. Wells said:

My first encounter, 25 years ago,
with a carpenter bee scared the bejeezus out of me. Heard this
buzzing sound at the end of a pile of 4x4's, bent down to look closer
at the one with 3 neatly bored holes in the cut off end, when out he
came!

A few days ago, I was nailing some boards and heard this loud buzzing sound.
Figured I had trapped a bee and continued my work. The buzzing grew louder and
finally he shot out like a bullet, leaving that characteristic neat round hole
behind.

After last summer's plague of yellow jackets (stop calling 'em "bees"
willya, people!)

Amen to that, I would bet that 90% of the time when you hear *A bee stung me*,
the culprit was really a wasp or yellow jacket.

Dave
http://members.tripod.com/~VideoDave

I agree its usually wasps who bite people. Honey bees go about there own business collecting sweep nectar. Honey bees have more to lose since once they string someone they will die

dommy wrote:

Alexander,

they were under the shed in the ground. They were big and black, they
didnt look too aggrssive though.

So what exactly do bumble bees do in their lifetime?

Pollenators, same as a. mellifera. Difference is, their larger
size makes it easier for them to pollenate larger, trumpet-shaped
flowers.

dommy said:

I agree its usually wasps who bite people.

I agree that its usually wasps who sting people, but they rarely bite.

Honey bees have more to lose since
once they string someone they will die

Only if the person has a severe alergic reaction. :-)

Dave
http://members.tripod.com/~VideoDave

they only work into rotting wood I think. they are prime pollinators. I wouldnt
want to kill em. Ingrid

"Steve Hollis" wrote:

Does your garage have a lot of wood rafters?
If the bees look sort of like bumblebees, but with a white face, you could
have some carpenter bees boring in your rafter beams.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

wasps are excellent predators of all kinds of pests. try to live with them if
possible. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

he meant once the bee stings, the bee dies.

(DavesVideo) wrote:

dommy said:
Honey bees have more to lose since once they string someone, they will die

Only if the person has a severe alergic reaction. :-)

Dave
http://members.tripod.com/~VideoDave



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

I only wish I HAD some Bee's...even Bumble Bee's and Halictids are in
short supply any more. Let alone Honey Bee's....

Dave


On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 23:52:37 GMT, wrote:

wasps are excellent predators of all kinds of pests. try to live with them if
possible. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Dave Fouchey, WA4EMR
http://photos.yahoo.com/davefouchey
Southeastern Lower Michigan
42° 35' 20'' N,
82° 58' 37'' W
GMT Offset: -5
Time Zone: Eastern

On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 23:52:37 GMT, wrote:

wasps are excellent predators of all kinds of pests. try to live with them if
possible. Ingrid


Ingrid,

Absolutely! Check out this wasp gobbling up worms in my garden.

http://www.livesoil.com/leasttoxic.htm
"As crude a weapon as a cave man's club the chemical barrage has been hurled at the fabric of life."
Rachel Carson

I had this happen once before they started building the hive. I
threw an oak log in the fireplace and got it smoking real good and
then put the log in a metal bucket. then took the metal bucket into
the garage. Then opened the garage door, and gave them an escape
route. The smoke was enough to drive them out. I came back about 30
minutes later and they were gone. Bee's are very helpful insects, if
you can get them away without killing them - it's better for
everyone.


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