Bees and bee hives - please help

[wisden]

We live in a very small community in the countryside, where we have a swimming pool and an organic garden. A few days ago our swimming pool was inundated with bees and we thought there was a swarm near bye, so we put some liquid soap in the pool, but the bees just kept coming back. We then put buckets of water around the edge of our property, but the bees continue to return.
We then found that about 30 hives have been placed in scrub-land about 1/2 mile from where we live. We have no idea who owns them as they are not on private land.
It is obvious that the owners are typically Spanish and are not giving the bees water.
Other than spraying the bees with insecticide, which we do not want to do, can anyone suggest a way that we can get rid of them. Thanks

[gavilan]

I know nothing about bees and their need for water but ... ?any chance of you taking some sort of container up to the beehives site and filling it with water ... would need to be in a shady spot to prevent too rapid evaporation ... and I realise that this means work for you and regular topping up of water container ... but might be a temporary solution til something more permanent can be worked out ...

[Enrique]

Hi wisden,
gavilan has the right idea.......................

https://growtherainbow.com/blogs/news/3 ... need-water

Leave a note with your container on why its there and as you're now part of the Bee Keeping team a share of the proceeds would be appreciated..................

It may take some days before the bees get the message that there is no need to make a mile(1.6km) round trip for water.

Bee keepers are like dog owners usually a friendly sort of people..................

PS: you need some bees for your organic garden....maybe they are multi tasking getting pollen from your garden and water at the same time..............

[Flexo]

They are swarming before migration (when a bee hive becomes to big or gets two queens or whatever). They will leave as soon as they only have one queen or the other half has found a better place to live.

[wisden]

Gavilan and Enrique Thank you for your suggestions, which I think are very good. The idea of taking water to the hives did cross my mind, but I thought it would only be a temporary solution, but putting a note on the hives as well as providing water is a great way of making a statement. The only problem I have is getting a container and water to the hives. But, during these hot summer days, it will give me something to think about.

[ericsbcn]

It is obvious that the owners are typically Spanish and are not giving the bees water.

I'm offended by this remark.

[wisden]

Re your comment ericsbcn I can confirm hat these bee keepers are Spanish and that they are part of a group of bee keepers who sell 'Organic honey produced from wild flowers' . If you saw where we lived, you would see how badly the locals in the countryside look after their animals and pets. I am sorry if you are offended by the remark, I am sorry, but it is true.

[peteroldracer]

I'm offended by this remark.

why on earth should you be? Even if you are Spanish, and a bee-keeper, you must recognise that a large majority of Spanish country folk have attitudes towards animals and a lot of other things that are like the UK in the 1950s. If truth offends you then you should perhaps think about your blinkered approach?

[wisden]

Very true petrolsracer, but it is bot worth making any further comment wot.

[jhonie99]

I don't go for the softly subtle hint approach as it doesn't work.

Denounce to Policia Local; It is on public land afterall (Although I suspect that's not the case). The bee keeper has rules to follow. Use the system to make sure he does. A denuncia to Medio Ambiente would be worth it also.

Don't worry about falling out with the neighbour; Neighbours in spain are always fighting with each other or suing in court for some matter or other.

By doing the beekeeper's job for it (supplying water, if that's what u say is needed), you're presenting yourself as an idiot.

[ericsbcn]

I'm sorry but it bothers me when people make generalizations like that. How would you feel if I saw a drunk British guy walking down the street acting like an idiot and I said "typically British"?

[peteroldracer]

Eric, it is a question of likelihoods - a campo Spaniard is very likely in my experience to have attitudes, particularly toward animal life, women, the environment, and consideration to others formed through generations, with little or no pressure to change by his peers. Not necessarily wrong, but certainly part of his being.
A drunk British guy would be typical of his class, but not typical of Brits - unless of course he is wearing an MUFC t-shirt and tattooes!

[ericsbcn]

Right, you're proving my point. The drunk British guy is not typical of ALL British, and neither is the inconsiderate Spanish neighbor typical of ALL Spanish.

[patricia]

I'm sorry but it bothers me when people make generalizations like that. How would you feel if I saw a drunk British guy walking down the street acting like an idiot and I said "typically British"?

They do, but it doesn't bother me at all.

[patricia]

My friends - Spanish - had the same problem and the hives were even nearer to the house than yours, and the owner of the bees was also Spanish, not only that my friends husband works for the town hall and they could not get a thing done, despite constant requests to the owner to have them moved and they had very young children at the time and they were terrified they would get stung. After years they have eventually moved them.

[wisden]

Thanks for getting back to the subject Patricia. I have found that the owners of the hives are a local cooperativa. I have contacted them by email and they have ignored all communications. So, it seems from what you have said and the response I have received that there is only one real solution to the problem.

[patricia]

Yes they are looking for water to drink, putting water near to their hives would be a good idea, at least for a short term solution!

You could get in touch with the citizens advice to get some advice and perhaps a denouncer is the only way forward to be able to get the co-operative to move them.

[One2OldFart]

Being a retired apiarist, I find it very strange to read the hysterical reaction to bees. The simple solution is to give the bees a good supply of fresh water away from the pool, preferably shaded with a sloping access to the water.
Bees are not aggressive and will only sting if provoked, afterall they die after stinging.

[patricia]

Spanish bees are meant to be more aggressive than British bees. I do not know if that is true or not. The problem with being near hives is that there are a lot in the air at the same time and especially where there are children who panic when a stinging insect approaches. Having said that none of my friends or her children were ever stung. I also had an experience with bees when I stopped to take photographs of the Almond Blossom in the contraviesa and all of a sudden I was surrounded by about 50 bees and realised I had stopped by their hives and I was in their flight path so I got into my car followed by the bees and drove for a half of a kilometre with about 15 bees in the car and they flew to the windows and try to get out. I stopped the car and opened all the doors and they flew off. I hasten to add I wasnt hysterical.