Do/did you tell the neighbours when the bees moved in?

So my old man was wrong - 'It'll never work' he said

einsteinagogo said:

I remember our houses burning, I remember the fights, I remember our house being covered in paint!

Something I'll never forget, and I'll never go back!

I could rant about it for hours.....

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I know it was terrible back then. Even Welsh owned cottages were targeted by these numpties. But the strange thing now is that Plaid Cymru has a lot of English people in its ranks. Learning the lingo and are doing very well for themselves.

I voted say nothing but I keep mainly bait hives in the garden, the swarms have not affected any of my neighbours.

Anduril said:

I know it was terrible back then. Even Welsh owned cottages were targeted by these numpties. But the strange thing now is that Plaid Cymru has a lot of English people in its ranks. Learning the lingo and are doing very well for themselves.

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Now they have their own voice, things are possibly better, but it was no different to terrorism! I've never forgotten, but many that were involved, that now live in glorious ENGLAND have forgotten!

I've not, they will get there;'s if not in this life, but the next!

Winter 2014 before committing to having a home apiary I spoke with the neighbours nearest. Next day, hung up on the wall of their house facing our driveway a slate notice nicely etched: "Bees Welcome Here". I could not ask for more than that!

A follow on benefit: they will text me if there is something unusual going on as they can glance over to the hives from their drive easily. I installed fine mesh up to 2 metres to heighten the flight lines - more for ourselves than for them as our driveway passes alongside the area I chose for the apiary. So far it's good.

Other neighbours in the vicinity: two people are cautious but interested, one household actually gave me 'start-up' money as they are so thrilled I'm committing to a good environmental project, others hugely interested. ... and of course asking to buy honey.

Well i said nothing just did it. Now they know there but they get a free jar of honey now and again to keep them SWEET ... and there happy i live in a terraced house so its very close to each other i have high fencing so the bees fly up and out of the way, but i keep a very close eye on the bees and there temp so if any probs i can move them to my Out-Apiary.

Steve H said:

Didn't really get a chance. i was making a couple of swarm traps to hide out somewhere, hung the first one on the fence. went in the kitchen to make a coffee, thought i heard an old ww 11 plane nearby ran out to the back yard to catch a look for the plane and ran into a swarm (literally) ran back indoors cos i was scared s***less. shut all the windows and hid in the kitchen for half an hour !

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best thing I've heard for ages

The are more layers vis
Tell the neighbours
Don't tell the neighbours but tell others you havent told the neighbours
Don't tell the neighbours and don't tell anyone else you haven't told them
Don't admit to having neighbours.
Don't admit to knowing any one
Don't say anything to anyone About anything

Apis who?

Steve H said:

Didn't really get a chance. i was making a couple of swarm traps to hide out somewhere, hung the first one on the fence. went in the kitchen to make a coffee, thought i heard an old ww 11 plane nearby ran out to the back yard to catch a look for the plane and ran into a swarm (literally) ran back indoors cos i was scared s***less. shut all the windows and hid in the kitchen for half an hour !

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That made even my husband laugh.

We asked our neighbours if they were allergic to bee stings before we moved hives into our back garden. As it turned out we had to move our hives out three years later as our next door neighbour had an extremely severe anaphylactic reaction to a single bee sting.

jenkinsbrynmair said:

Didn't tell the neighbours (certainly wouldn't have asked their permission) it only becomes their business if the bees become a real problem.
As for the 'right sort' moving in - we solved that years ago in Wales - they were called Meibion Glyndŵr we now just have the for sale signs in Welsh

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I was at University while all that was going on .. Bangor University.
And the University had its hot heads (who might have had boxes of matches), , who could be quite abusive to the English students as "Imperialist incomers". The irony was those students were all from South Wales, which was /is more alien to the inhabitants of Gwynedd than Liverpool and although English, I was more local than them. They all resided in the same hall of Residence Neuadd John Morris Jones, cooking up their next demonstration.
The locals were in contrast friendly, except for the occasional stopping speaking English when you walked into the village shop.

derekm said:

I was at University while all that was going on .. Bangor University.
And the University had its hot heads (who might have had boxes of matches), , who could be quite abusive to the English students as "Imperialist incomers". The irony was those students were all from South Wales, which was /is more alien to the inhabitants of Gwynedd than Liverpool and although English, I was more local than them. They all resided in the same hall of Residence Neuadd John Morris Jones, cooking up their next demonstration.
The locals were in contrast friendly, except for the occasional stopping speaking English when you walked into the village shop.

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ah, that's what upset them even more, that an Englishman, forced by the education system to learn Welsh, that eventually an English Man, could speak their language, and answer them back in their mother language when they did that in shops!

Interesting times, I could rant for years on the subject!

Our School, was like South Africa - Apartide, English on one side of the room, Welsh on the other. (late 70s-late 80s) - the school streaming was done by how well you spoke Welsh! and the class streams were "G,E,R,Y,B,O,N,T"

einsteinagogo said:

ah, that's what upset them even more, that an Englishman, forced by the education system to learn Welsh, that eventually an English Man, could speak their language, and answer them back in their mother language when they did that in shops!

Interesting times, I could rant for years on the subject!

Our School, was like South Africa - Apartide, English on one side of the room, Welsh on the other. (late 70s-late 80s) - the school streaming was done by how well you spoke Welsh! and the class streams were "G,E,R,Y,B,O,N,T"

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A friend used to live near Chester and played football for a local English team. He was a fluent welsh speaker and would occasionally shout instructions in welsh to the Welsh opponents who hearing their own language would obey.
Caused no end of confusion!

pargyle said:

It rather depends on the type of bees you get, the sort of neighbours you have and the location of the apiary in relation to the potential flightpath they are likely to take over any adjacent properties.

I keep my bees in my garden in an urban setting - I've been open with my neighbours about my beekeeping but I did not seek their permission. My bees have not caused any problems so far but I am conscious of the fact that, if they did, I would have to move them.

There are no hard and fast rules - you just need to assess all the possibilities, likely problems and have Plan B in place in case it all goes arse over apex ....

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Why would it matter what bees you get? They all swarm, any bees can get angry at times, & as for fly paths, mine go in every direction possible. Even if on a field of rape, not all the bees go to it, they go all over.

Well, in the end I moved a colony over without asking or telling the neighbours. It was a split that was fast outgrowing its nuc and needed to be rehoused in a full sized hive asap. I would have mentioned it to the neighbours in advance... but they happened to be away at the time. So decision made.

Since found out they'd been considering keeping bees themselves for some time... But delayed because they didn't want to upset the newcomers next door!

MattC said:

Well, in the end I moved a colony over without asking . . . . So decision made.

. . . . didn't want to upset the newcomers next door!

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"Newcomers"?

That's not a word or phrase used in the town is it?

Round here you're a newcomer is you weren't born or are not related to someone born here!

MartinL said:

Round here you're a newcomer is you weren't born or are not related to someone born here!

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accepted that soon eh - round here arriving any time after the first steam train makes the family newcomers

It would be polite to say that you ARE going to be keeping some bees.

But then again would do that if you were getting a dog or cat etc ?

dogs bark, cats poop !

Just don't get any old bees that are offered / swarms. Get bees that are known to be generally calm and non aggressive.

Then manage them appropriately.

jenkinsbrynmair said:

. . . . arriving any time after the first steam train makes the family newcomers

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That, (150 years ago) would be the last time someone was born in our village!

Oh, and I doubt they would recognise such new-fangled things as Railways!
They're always opposing anything that may bring change or modernity;

Don't need faster internet,
Keep the Phone-box,
Rent an area of wasteland (to stop it being built on),
Stop the pub diversifying (but still not use it themselves)!

MartinL said:

Stop the pub diversifying (but still not use it themselves)!

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Yes......doesn't that make you spit !!!!!! No wonder so many are closing.