Bees & the Myth of their Demise - PEST UK

Providing pest control services in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, London, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, West Midlands, West Sussex, Wiltshire. Est. 1985.

Bees & the Myth of their Demise

In Bees and Bee Problems, Pests, Stories from the Pest Control team

Bees & the Myth of their Demise :
Bee Control by PestUKRarely in the world of pest control is good news headlined in papers and the media.

One example is rats. Although on the increase generally, wheelie bins in many areas have lead to a decrease in household refuse rat related problems but this decrease has been offset by the increase in rat problems caused by bird feeding.

The same  scenario is true of bees. At PEST UK we have had a massive increase in the call outs to deal with bees. Most of these are due to Bumble Bee nests in buildings. There has also been an increase in honey bee swarm & nest call outs, but the increase has not been so dramatic and this is probably down the the fact that more people are keeping bee hives.

Honey bees are a semi domesticated species so would be more susceptible to diseases than truly wild insects. The Bumble Bee situation is different – 10 to 15 years ago it would have been extremely rare to have a call out for a Bumble Bee nest in the roof or loft space of a house. Now these make up 80% of our bee call outs. The area we service at PEST UK is Berkshire, North Hampshire, Middlesex, West London, South Oxfordshire, South Buckinghamshire and North West Surrey, so this information may be localized.

These loft dwelling Bumble Bees are probably a different sub species and are either are not feeding on whatever the ground nest bumble bees were feeding on (if we accept the theory that the nicotine-based neonicotinoids insecticides on crops are killing bees) or that they are not affected by these chemicals. In any case it shows that in some instances nature is quite capable of adapting to the environment and the result is bees have made a come back. The nicotine-based neonicotinoids pesticides are to be withdrawn from use and no doubt in a few years this will be given for the reason for the bee come back. It has happened already.

If you need help with a bees nest on your property please visit the Bee Control page of our website for further information.

Bees – BPCA

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