swarm-list Mailing List: Re: Bumbles? Extraction? Mystery box in San Leandro!

[yolanda huang (yogreening]

I will rescue the bumble bees. and if it is bees. I will 

On Tue, Mar 31, 2026 at 5:20 PM Paula Breen via swarm-list <swarm-list [at] alamedabees.org> wrote:

Elinor's son Rick left a VM on the swarm hotline with his mom's number. I called her back and she described bees that have been in one of her bird houses for she thinks at least a few months. She isn't sure what they really look like because she is afraid to get close. Ordinarily I would say it's probably bumbles but she describes this is a largish birdhouse, and she says that when they are active there are lots and lots of bees coming and going which is not my experience with bumblebee nests which are typically much smaller than honeybees. She used the word "swarming". Her son wrapped a towel around the birdhouse and taped it up but she says the bees are still getting in and out from the backside of it. She is okay with somebody taking the birdhouse away (It is on a pole and she said should be easy to remove) but she would like it back at some point. If it's bumblebees and you relocate them you could bring it back to her at the end of the season when they peter out. The less likely possibility is that it honeybees in which case you have to extract them out of there and hopefully not destroy the thing. I suppose it could also be wasps. This feels a little bit like a game show! Who's up for an adventure?

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