Concerned grandparent

My son his wife and children live next door to a person that has bees they are always in there garden as a swarm or laying on the grass the children cannot play out when it is warm and sunny they have been stung many times They tried speaking to beekeeper but he refuses to help my grandson has a low immune system and i worry all the time im not against beekeeping im just against my grandchildren being stung im just asking for advise what i can do i know what i feel like doing but i thought i would ask responsible beekeepers there advise because i feel it is the sensible thing to do thankyou

Hi,
that must be a worry for you all.
Honey bees wouldnt always be in the garden as a swarm or laying on the grass, yes they do swarm once or twice a year and they occasionally drink from wet / damp grass.
If you have tried talking to the beekeeper, I would try again, invite them around to see the problem. Speak to the other neighbours as bees travel a long way and would not just be a problem in this garden. Try and google your local bee keeping association and speak to someone there about what you can do. Google BBKA and read their advice leaflets on line.
Has anyone actually been stung by a honey bee ?, you say many times but are they honey bee stings. I am a beekeeper with 30 hives or so and I havent been stung many times, sounds quite alarming. How many hives do they have in the garden.
Bees do not like lawn mowers or strimmers at all.
No body has the right to stop someone else enjoying their garden, last resort is speak to the council, after all other avenues have been explored.
Its always best to be pleaseant and work together to find a solution than it is to end up vexed over it.
Good luck

I am a young grandparent! I still have a teenage son at home and he, his friends and my 5 grandchildren all enjoy playing in my garden when visiting, even with a bee hive present. My garden is not large but I have taken care to try to keep the low part of the flight path of the bees away from the play area.
I have a 6ft mesh fence in front of the hive so the bees have to fly up high before they reach the area the children play in. I can see bees flying over the children but so far (18months of beekeeping) no-one has been stung (except me when handling the bees) . Bees treat mesh as a solid and fly over it. (the odd one of two find their way through)

You could maybe plant some tallish plants between the gardens so the bees have to go higher over the garden. Or some canes with non-attracting bee flowers.
Responsible bee keepers keep non-aggressive bees. I hope you find a solution.

What colour are the bees, the ones that sting the most are yellow and black ones, the black brown ones are ok

I think Pete D's answer really covers everything. Work through the stages he suggests, and I hope you manage to reach an outcome satisfactory to all parties.

I have seen someone putting netted screens in front of the hives, forcing bees to go up and away avoiding bees to fly into the adjacent garden. might be a thing to suggest.

as said before, honey bees swarm only occasionally and if the beekeeper does not take care of them properly. swarming bees are usually docile and not keen on stinging. If your neighbors bees sting easily, he should requeen with a proven docile queen. if all of this is done, you should be safe from stings.

Just one quick question,



who was there first?

MartinL said:

Just one quick question,



who was there first?

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That's just about the worst and most poorly informed response I have ever seen on this forum.

concerned said:

My son his wife and children live next door to a person that has bees they are always in there garden as a swarm or laying on the grass the children cannot play out when it is warm and sunny they have been stung many times

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If that is indeed the case, then as an experienced and hopefully responsible beekeeper, people should not have to put up with situations like that. I would urge your son to do something positive about this matter.

Does the owner of the bees rent his home from a Registered Social Landlord, like a Housing Association or a Local Authority? If they do, this tenant is probably easily in breach of their Tenancy Agreement and is on very thin ice indeed.

If the beekeeper owns his own home, well then people have a right to enjoy their own property, but in my mind this situation easily crosses over into the 'nuisance neighbour' category.

Whether they be RSL tenants or owner-occupiers a 'nuisance neighbour' complaint to the respective Local Authority, like a City Council or a District Council, needs to be made.

Lots of beekeepers in the UK are members of the British Beekeeping Association and by default have Public Liability Insurance. A lawyer will generally not think it worth his while to claim for the occasional sting, but if stinging incidents are regular and if it is ruining the life of a child who might have a compromised immune response then a 'no win, no fee' claim could possibly be pursued.

Lots of beekeepers keep their colonies at what we call 'out apiaries', like on farmland after gaining the permission of a farmer/landowner. If this guy owns a vehicle then he really has no excuse. However, if he's 'transport poor' you can perhaps see why he keeps his bees at home.

Midland Beek said:

That's just about the worst and most poorly informed response I have ever seen on this forum.

Click to expand...

Adam

just one more thing is it normal to spread honeycomb all over the garden the bees are everywhere

do you spread your honeycomb all over your lawn ? the situation is getting worse if you speak to the neighbour he is abusive he has 4 hives spread around the garden sometimes there are at least 20 bees laying on my sons lawn

I can't decide if you are serious or not! How is he spreading honey comb all over the garden! It is not normal practise. I hunk you have been given good advice here, please take it!
E

I am very serious and because my son has complained the neighbour just does everything to aggrevate my son all the honeycomb that has fell in the hive he has removed and put around his garden so all the bees have come out the hives and are everywhere i will upload pics if you want

concerned said:

. . . . . . . . . .sometimes there are at least 20 bees laying on my sons lawn

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20! that's a lot of bees,
what is encouraging them into your son's garden?


What colour are there bees?
How big are they?

Yes, a picture may be very enlightening.

my son has took pics i will upload tomorrow its like the neighbour wants a war i have took your advice and gone through the correct channels i now see he is a member on this site and after reading through his quotes etc i am right he has increased his hives etc just to cause trouble but i will not let my grandchildren suffer anymore they have a right to play outdoors i am taking this as far as possible

Is it just me or is this thread getting more and more bizarre ??

concerned said:

my son has took pics i will upload tomorrow its like the neighbour wants a war i have took your advice and gone through the correct channels i now see he is a member on this site and after reading through his quotes etc i am right he has increased his hives etc just to cause trouble but i will not let my grandchildren suffer anymore they have a right to play outdoors i am taking this as far as possible

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How are you able to determine he has done it "just to cause trouble", and how were you able to determine who he is on this forum? Are you sure you haven't been belligerent yourself (or your son) in the past to help escalate the issue? It's normal for beekeepers to have to temporarily increase the number of hives they have as part of swarm control procedures (ie. preventing them from causing even more of a nuisance to you).

pargyle said:

Is it just me or is this thread getting more and more bizarre ??

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It's not just you.

I say we all ignore it now. Advice given.
E