IAMA Director of the Tree Bee Society of Great Britain - a Community Interest Company aiming to promote the benefits of all Bees and to stop the needless killing of bee nests by Wildlife Management Specialists.

What's a bee's favourite composer?

Bee-thoven!

BA-DUM-TSSSSHH

Why are there certain rules regarding bringing honey into the UK from abroad?

That's a really good question! And not one I'd know much about ;) although from what I can read you can bring in certain quantities.

Within the EU you can bring Honey. So if you want to bring Honey home from Spain to the UK then you can. You're only restricted on weight from outside of the EU from what I can read. Check out this .gov document

I f*king LOVE Bees.

I remember seeing SO many as a child. It kills me that I have to feel "lucky" when I see just one flying about by itself...

How can I, as an individual, make a difference to their decline?

I'm putting that GIF on all my internal emails haha.

What you can do depends on where you live in the world. You're best planting wildflowers that are native to your part of the world. Studies have been done that show that borage, lavendar, marjoram and open-flower dahlias vareties are good for pollinating insects. The BBC have LOADS of resources, however they can be quite UK specific.

You can also provide homes from solitary Bees, which look like this but the same effect can be gained by just getting a wood log and drilling different sized holes in it and positioning it in a tree or hedge. It should attract lots of different bugs.

You can also Like us on Facebook where us staff members will be posting blogs on what we're doing to encourage Bees and other pollinators to our gardens as well as updates on nests we've rescued ;)

You can also Like us on Facebook

Gladly!

Thanks for your awesome reply :)

In case you need it, here is the full version of that gif ;)

HAHA. Oprah, the ultimate Queen Bee.

Or is that Bee-yonce?

How tired are you of Nic Cage "Not the bees" jokes?

Nobodies actually made that one yet! I might start making it and see how many people get it.

I don't think The Wickerman was a popular film in the UK though?

The original (good version) was. It's a brilliant film, watch it! There's no bees in it, sadly.

The one that was set in the 60's/70's? I think I've watched some of that! Doesn't the guy go into a pub or something and everyones a bit creepy?

How can bee's fly with such a fat body and such little wings?

Also, I really like the bees. I don't want them to die. Please don't kill bees. Please. Not the bees. No. Not the bees.

I really like the Bees too! I'm one of the nicer guys who don't kill any Bees, they're just too important to our survival!

LiveScience have a fantastic article on this, but in short - it's to do with how the flap their wings. Instead of moving them like a bird, up and down, they actually move them side to side.

We're hoping to work alongside local community groups such as the Scouts and Girl Guides to educate people more about how Bees live.

Why are bees so cute?

I have no idea. Of all the insects I work with, they're just the sweetest little things ever. Nobody could ever claim a Cockroach or a Flea is cute. They don't mind being picked up and I've only ever been stung when I've been removing nests, which is understandable - I'm basically removing their home and eggs and Queen.

I personally think it's their little drinking tongues

The church I belong to is actually starting the process of maintaining a beehive this year. What advice do you have for us? I'm not directly involved in keeping the bees, but I understand their importance. What can we tell people to ease their mind about them being here?

We are getting them from a "nice hive" that has in the past produced many hives that are not agressive. We have many people who are going to beekeeping school later next month too. I'm actually getting more and more excited about the whole project.

That's fantastic!

While I have worked with Honey Bees in the past, I have more experience with Bumblebees. Honey Bees are more tempermental and obviously have more of a hive mind. It sounds weird, but to me personally it doesn't seem like they have much "personality" to them. You need training to really understand how to maintain the hives and they are high maintenance, whereas you can just put Bumblebees in a box and leave them to get on with things themselves. Although I have been known to feed the Bumbles honey from my finger, I do have a bit of a soft spot for them.

All Bee types will not ever sting someone out of spite. You have to REALLY upset or threaten a Bees before they'll sting you. Their death is quite a horrific one when they sting, their abdomens actually split in half. I was stung once last year by a Bumble Bee last year and I don't think I've ever been stung by a Honey Bee and I'm really roughhousing with these Bees, picking up nests, hives, even individual Bees. While I'd recommend that you wear protective gear while handling the Honey Bees, it's unlikely that you'd get stung.

I've read that all the pro-bee folk in London are actually damaging for the been population. Something to do with there not being enough pollen I'm crowded urban areas. What is the actual thinking on this? Should office blocks add hives to their roofs or is it doing more damage?

I personally don't think it's doing any damage - you're giving them a chance, which is better than nothing. Currently there are a lot of Urban Gardeners, who also plant out their rooftops and other spaces in large cities. While it's true that they would have to go further to find a food source, once they find it they'd be pretty good at keeping up with it.

I'm actually currently working on a project with a student at a University in a Northern UK city to encourage them to put rescued Bumblebee nests on rooftops of Unviersity buildings and we have permission to put one on top of the Museum of Natural History in Liverpool. While there's probably less variety in food types in inner cities, there will be food around.

I live in the south east (Kent). What single simple thing can I do everyday to help bees?

Everyday things? Local, organic produce. One of the biggest killers to Bees and other pollinators are crops that are mass sprayed with pesticides. The pesticides aren't just focused to one type of pest. They're also not very good for the environment as a whole. Recently there's been a lot of noise made about Neonicotinoids which is the most commonly used type of insecticide.

My colleague has just informed me that there was research carried out in London to see what types of pollen was brought back by a hive of Honey Bees positioned in London and there were plenty of varieties from plenty of plants. They mirrored the research in Yorkshire (he thinks, it could have been somewhere else) and the only type of Pollen that came back was from Rapeseed. We have a huge problem with not having a variety of crops in the UK. Due to "cash crops" we're actually cutting out a lot of plants that would encourage and maintain Bees. Rapeseed is a massively popular crop and is actually one of the crops that is most commonly sprayed with Neonicotinoids, killing off Bees.

You're best planting wildflowers that are native to England. Studies have been done that show that borage, lavendar, marjoram and open-flower dahlias vareties are good for pollinating insects. The BBC have LOADS of resources and we will be updating and placing blogs on our website

You can also provide homes from solitary Bees, which look like this but the same effect can be gained by just getting a wood log and drilling different sized holes in it and positioning it in a tree or hedge. It should attract lots of different bugs.

You can also Like us on Facebook where us staff members will be posting blogs on what we're doing to encourage Bees and other pollinators to our gardens as well as updates on nests we've rescued ;)

what do you have to say about the "save the bees" street art in London? I visited this past spring and saw quite a few pieces.

It's a fantastic idea. They're right in saying that people don't even think about how important Bees are - they take them for granted. But getting it out there to members of the public just how important they are and just how affected they would be if we lost all of our Bees isn't so easy. By putting the pictures in such public views really confronts people with "Look, if they die, we don't stand a chance" which is really what we're trying to get across, just with our focus on the people who are actively killing them.

It's actually due to a visit to London why we've set up the GoFundMe so we can buy marketing materials such as leaflets, pens, keyrings etc to hand out and get people thinking about it a bit more. If you want to read more about our trip to London, please visit the GoFundMe page and have a read about what we're doing!

Do you also protect wasps? If so WHY??? They are EVIL(sorry in advance if they actually have a purpose beside being an asshole)

Wasps are also pollinators, but you're right in saying they're arseholes. Even their stings are different, like you can feel the anger and poison in them. There's arguments that say they're not as useful as Bees and as they actually attack and eat Bees they're making the situation worse. I'm not saying they need to be completely eradicated but I have no issue spraying a wasps nest.

Bee strings are like little "C'mon, you're being an annoying dick" stings.

Are there types of bee friendly plants you recommend planting?

Yes! My best advice is to plant things that are native to your part of the world such as wildflowers.

Our friends over at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust have fantastic resources to see if your garden is currently Bee friendly and the Telegraph has an amazing resource there for letting you know what's best to put in.

Ideally, flowers that come out at the very beginning of Spring. Daffodils, Crocus' anything that can flower while there's still frost on the ground. This provides a source of food for Bees that have woken up early and keeps them going until the Summer months when more plants and flowers come out. This even means some plants that we would consider Weeds, such as Dandelions - so think before you pull those weeds!

I know that some birds prey on bees and wasps if they can catch them. Would it still be beneficial to plant be-friendly plants in a yard with bird feeders, baths, etc. that encourage a lot of bird traffic? Thanks for the AMA, I plan to have a bee colony as soon as I live in an area that allows them.

It's all part of the ecosystem - birds naturally prey on insects and we're all about improving biodiversity, so go ahead!

We're more concerned with the unnatural and non-necessary killing of Bees. Birds are important to the planet as well!

How did you get this job? Did you have experience working with bees beforehand?

Sounds like an awesome job!

It is an amazing job - it's the best one I've ever had!

I set up my own pest control company with experience only in International Development and Geography, Waste and the Environment etc. so not really much experience in Pest Control or with handling Bees other than planting out my garden with pollinator friendly plants and taking courses to learn about pest control.

When we started getting calls for Bees I refused to kill them, but realised that the customer would just call out someone else who would. So I tried to think of some way I could prevent it from happening and so the Tree Bee Society was born!

We remove the nests from the property (they're usually in Bird Nest Boxes, on the ground, in the eaves of homes, in compost heaps etc) and then I have a list of volunteers (around 100+!) who are happy to take in a nest and have the Bees in their gardens!

So while I have experience in insects in general (which chemicals are best to use for killing them etc) before I started rescuing the Bees I had no experience whatsoever in handling etc. I found local beekeepers associations and tagged along when they were checking out their hives etc, but wild Bumblebees are totally different from kept Honey Bees. I've pretty much had to just learn by trial and error, which has involved a few stings and a few grumbly Bees.

How are the bees being rescued? Is this project on a big scale?

It's not on as big a scale as I'd like it to be. Unfortunately while I try and get involved as much as I can (and I'm pretty heavily involved) I still have to make money which means I'm split between my business and the Society. When I'm not doing work for my business I'm working work the Tree Bee Society. I'd eventually like for us to have a few hubs around the UK, but it's something we're on with developing. We're in talks with the British Pest Control Association (who are the ones who kindly gave us the slot at the convention we're going too) and a few chemical companies to help us out.

The Bee's nests are physically picked up by hand and moved into an adapted box which you can kinda see here and here if they're not already in a bird box. We then plug them up (as seen by the sponge) to make sure we don't have any escapees and move them to a volunteer where we let them out. Their new homes are usually in allotments, market gardens, with farmers etc. but it's not a requirement to have a garden to take a nest in. Bees will travel 3 miles away to forage for food.

That's great. Good luck with your initiative :)

Thanks! I'm really excited about it - it's the most enjoyable position I've ever held!

I was helping a friend (in the U.S., west coast) manage his home while he was away, and he had a bee problem under his roof. He instructed me to get them exterminated because it cost so much to re-home them. I felt like I didn't really have a good argument to give him as to why he should be responsible to pay so much money for these bees. This is probably damaging to bees in suburban areas. So my question is, what can be done to give people more of an incentive to move bees rather than exterminating them?

It's difficult, because people really don't understand just how important they are to our survival on earth. I know it's easy to go "Yeah but me killing one nest wont hurt" - imagine if everybody thought that way?

This is a food circle. It shows the majority of the food groups that the standard human eats on any given day - how many of those food groups are affected by Bees and pollination? All of them. It doesn't just stop at food, plants provide Oxygen for us to breathe as well.

We tackle this by our pricing systems. We do charge to remove the Bee nest however as we point out, you'd probably pay just as much to exterminate them. Honey Bee's in homes are different and are a tad more invasive, therefore they do cost more to get out.

Generally speaking, if you kill a Bee nest, you're going to have hundreds of dead bees in the walls/roof of your home. If they're Honey Bees then the Honey will no longer be maintained and will turn into a watery substance, running down the insides of your walls and attracting flies, mites and even rats and mice. They also smell, really bad when they're dead, like raw sewage. That alone should be enough to just pay out to have them removed.

[deleted]

Yes! They actually give off little warnings when they're feeling threatened - they think they're being tough, but it's actually really quite cute!

They lift a front leg up it they think you're getting a little too close, just to kinda say "Right, that's enough, back off a bit". If they think you've ignored that, they'll lift both front legs up to warn you.

Here's a picture I've found of it

So if you ever think a Bumblebee is just stretching it's legs, it's really telling you to Buzz Off!

As for Honeybees, they're really, really clean. If a bee dies in their hive box, or they've got some debris that's blown in, they'll pick it up, take it to the entrance of the hive and drop it off the edge. The females also do this with the males when it's coming to winter - they kick them out into the cold to die. They do this after the last of the foraging has been done for winter, so all the winter food is stored up. This means there's more food for everybody else and the male Honeybee is actually only there to impregnate the Queen and gather food. The females look after the eggs until Spring and make some more Queen cells male so the foraging for food can begin again!

Why should people care about the bees?

Why are the Wildlife Management Specialists destroying so many nests that it's an issue?

As I said to /u/valleycupcake

Because people really don't understand just how important they are to our survival on earth. I know it's easy to go "Yeah but me killing one nest wont hurt" - imagine if everybody thought that way?

This is a food circle. It shows the majority of the food groups that the standard human eats on any given day - how many of those food groups are affected by Bees and pollination? All of them. It doesn't just stop at food, plants provide Oxygen for us to breathe as well.

In the UK, no Bee is protected by law. This is a common misconception, however it allows for pest controllers to spray chemicals and kill off bee nests when they come into conflict with people. They cause no harm to property, are no harm to people unless threatened and generally just get on with doing what they do - they're not even interested in humans.

Generally speaking, pest controllers and other wildlife management specialists killing nests and hives probably isn't where the majority of harm to bees is coming from, however when so many Bees are killed through pesticides being sprayed on crops and gardens where they're not the target insect, it seems highly unfair to kill them when they've set up a nest in their natural environment, just because humans happen to be around.

How would you respond to the claim that a focus on preserving honey bees is misguided? For example, from a recent scientific article:

one can argue that recent ‘Save the Honey Bee’ campaigns by a wide range of commercial and non-governmental organisations might do more harm than good with respect to the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by other pollinators. ... By conflating problems in the honey bee industry with the much more acute conservation issue of losses of native pollinators, honey bee researchers do damage to the whole community of researchers working on bee biology and pollination more generally.

source of the quote: http://oldweb.northampton.ac.uk/aps/env/lbrg/journals/papers/ollerton2012-overplaying-role-of-honey-bees.pdf

I can see where they're coming from - Honey Bees have become a little like dogs. They're bred for the best qualities, best honey, best temperament, most resistance to varroa mite etc.

The Tree Bee Society are for all Bees and while we will respond if someone has a swarm they want rid of (which we'll box up and introduce to a Queen) we mainly deal with Bumblebees and the Honey Bees we do have, we don't get involved with other than to check on them for Queens (to stop swarming) and remove comb/put in another frame.

We very much educate on increasing habitats just as much as we put an emphasis on not killing any Bees.

EDIT: Honey Bee keepers do sometimes only encourage foraging of certain plants, for certain tasting Honey, such as taking gives to Moorland areas to feed on heathers etc. that doesn't really encourage the planting of various plants/crops to encourage all pollinators.

http://action.sumofus.org/a/bayer-bees-lawsuit/13/2/?sub=fb.

Please also check your twitter :)

Hey thanks! The office mentioned that you'd tweeted. As individuals the directors and volunteers can sign it, unfortunately as a Community Company we can't be seen to have sway politically?

We have been keeping up with the petition on SumOfUs though, I know on my personal email address I get updates.