Bumbles

[ablanton]

Well, this is a first for me.  I have an infestation of bumble bees.  They seem to be roosting under my telescopic covers.  I have never had issues with bumble bees until this year.  And, yes, they are fluffy fuzzy bumbles -- not slick shiny carpenter bees.  I had several hives with two or three.  I pulled the cover off of one hive to find 6 or 8 huddled up together.  I'm not sure what a bumble bee nest looks like, but I don't think they were nesting.  There was no kind of comb or building material.  Just bees huddled up together in the space between the inside of the cover over-hang and the outside of the super.  They didn't try to sting me, but it was obvious that they did not appreciate my presence.  Anybody know what's going on with them and how I can get rid of them?

[Jen]

Well that's curious... I have heard that bumbles nest in the ground, I wonder if these are misplaced bumbles? Maybe something happened to their nest? I've heard that their sting/bite is worse than any other bee, so be careful where you step on your property.

[Retroguy]

Well, they often nest in the ground.  The other place they liked according to my parents were haycocks (little mini-hay stacks that you'd put up, then go out a few weeks later to pitch them on a wagon -- Guess what could drop down your neck?).

Had a nest of bumbles in the ground at the entrance to a barn we have that's fallen down last Summer but a couple of years ago we had a nest of them living in the eaves of our back porch.  There was a place where the facia had rotted out and that was their entrance.  Never had a problem with them.

My other experience was in 1959 or '60.  We had a wood pile (uncut trunks, limbs, etc.) that was not the neatest due to the twisted nature of some of the tree limbs.  There was a big open spot in the middle so my brothers and I called it "The Fort" and played in there all the time.  One evening just after Dad had finished milking the 3 of us kids were sitting on a log on the top of "The Fort" and kicking our feet back & forth.  Two of us were thumping a log beneath where we sat.  All of a sudden here comes a bunch of bumbles out of that log.  Two of us got stung pretty good while one brother just sat about 5 feet away and watched the action.  Dad sprayed the bumbles so we'd have our Fort back while Mom nursed our battle wounds.

[Jen]

YeOuch Retro! That's an experience you'll never forget. Tell me, was the bumble bee stings worse than other stings you have over the years?

[Retroguy]

Oh yeah, they hurt plenty.  The darned things will bite too.  I tried to pull one off that stung me in the ear and got my finger bit for the trouble.  Only thing I've ever run into with a similar wallop was a big black wasp that I encountered out in western Minnesota in my 20's while checking out a hog house on the place I was renting.  Don't know what they actually are called but we don't have them on the eastern side of the state.