Bumblebees all up in my grow area

[CannaExists]

For some reason bumblebees keep showing up in my grow vicinity, I've had to take 2 out already, both at separate times, that were on the ground where I could trap them easily... now today I go down and 2 of my pots contain a bumblebee! Are they attracted to MJ? Any way I can repel these sumbitches without using toxic stuffs?

 

[bongoie]

how they gettin in ? there prob doin good work MJ honey mmmmm . i freaked on finding a centipede in ma soil only to find out later it's benificial as it eats other pests . a fly screen would help

 

[quadracer]

they probably like the water in the soil. I see honeybees in my soil all the time as soon as I water.

They aren't interested in mj, unless you have a male sperming out pollen. No need to kill them either way.

 

[Greyskull]

i was finding bees here and there in my veg room for about 2 weeks when i found a hive of bees outside the exhaust vent/under the shingle...
the hive was about the size of 2 basketballs.... HUGE don't know how i didn't see it, except i don't travel to that end of the property much...
i ended up calling a bee keeper and they came to take it away.... until they realized they were africanized, so they were exterminated on the spot. luckily for me the hive was totally outside of the bulding structure, or they would have had to get into the walls and that would have been a mess.... $200 and no more hive.

what really sucked though was that same night the bees were killed i was in the veg room tending, barefoot, and somehow there was one bee that had managed to make it into the veg room that i didn't see as i was working and i stepped on it, and got stung on the bottom of my foot. OUCH.

bees suck....

 

[master shake]

are they damaging the plants? Not much you can do but try to swat em, but why? You'll just end up getting stung eventually while trying, they are good for the environment.

 

[maryjohn]

most likely they are confused by your lights.

Not much you can do, other than ignore them or plug the hole they are coming through. Bumblebees are pretty docile and rarely hurt people.

Have you noticed how many bumblebees and little native bees have showed up now that the euro bees are not around? I love it!

 

[CannaExists]

I have been seeing quite a few bumblebees recently. 3 flew past my window within the last half hour (might've been the same bee all along iunno).

I didn't plan on killing them or nothing, I just wanted to trap them so they could be transported outside. I plugged up one hole that I saw them getting in but that wasn't enough. The only apparent problem their presence poses is that sometimes they get in the soil and I don't want to go dumping water in the soil while they're in there. That can be easily dodged by waiting 'til they're out of the soil.

Thanks for the replys gaise.

 

[maryjohn]

The method that works best won't work for ye: turn off the lights and open a window.

I think you can water with them there. They are tough.

 

[40AmpstoFreedom]

Sounds like carpenter bee's which are generally harmless not bumble bee's:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpenter_bees

I've got a colony of those in my backyard they live in the shed. Had them at a couple of different houses now and never been bother by them once. Bumblebees on the other in my opinion are more aggressive...stepped on a nest once made in the ground covered in pineneedles...I stopped where I was looking around for what the loud noise was almost sounded like a damn lawnmower then I felt the flying into my legs...lucky I only got stung once ran immediately to the closest retention pond and swan dived (well maybe it wasn't that graceful) lol

Softball size swelling around the sting spot hurt! Avoid the bumblebees love the carpenter's.

 

[maryjohn]

you've obviously never been bitten by a carpenter bee.

me neither.

from wiki:
Some are often mistaken for a bumblebee species, as they can be similar in size and coloration, though most carpenter bees have a shiny abdomen, while in bumblebees the abdomen is completely clothed with dense hair.

 

[40AmpstoFreedom]

you've obviously never been bitten by a carpenter bee.

me neither.

from wiki:
Some are often mistaken for a bumblebee species, as they can be similar in size and coloration, though most carpenter bees have a shiny abdomen, while in bumblebees the abdomen is completely clothed with dense hair.

Yea wiki says:

"However, males are harmless since they do not have a stinger[3]. Female bees do have a stinger, but are not aggressive, and will not sting unless directly provoked."

This has been my experience with them 0 aggression even when grilling next to them while they do their before sundown swarms. I thought they would someday take my rib grilling and all its smoke as aggressive, but not yet seem pretty docile heh.

 

[clorox]

you had african bees in your grow? geez...

 

[beek]

For some reason bumblebees keep showing up in my grow vicinity, I've had to take 2 out already, both at separate times, that were on the ground where I could trap them easily... now today I go down and 2 of my pots contain a bumblebee! Are they attracted to MJ? Any way I can repel these sumbitches without using toxic stuffs?

Bad karma killing bumble bees

Never ever kill bumble bees. They provide pollination service around your house for free and are harmless.

 

[maryjohn]

Bad karma killing bumble bees

Never ever kill bumble bees. They provide pollination service around your house for free and are harmless.

Not the cuckoo kind! bastards. Of course, you can't tell them apart...

 

[beek]

Not the cuckoo kind! bastards. Of course, you can't tell them apart...

What are you talking about ? Pics ? Cuckoo ?

 

[CannaExists]

I'll take a look at them next time they're around and try to decipher if they're carpenter or bumble.

Bad karma killing bumble bees

Never ever kill bumble bees. They provide pollination service around your house for free and are harmless.

When I said "take out" I wasn't talking mobster style, I transported them outside in a dixie cup.

What are you talking about ? Pics ? Cuckoo ?

"Cuckoo" bumblebees

Bumblebees of the subgenus Psithyrus (known as cuckoo bumblebees, and formerly considered a separate genus) are a lineage which has lost the ability to collect pollen, and live parasitically in the colonies of other bumblebees. Before finding and invading a host colony, a Psithyrus female (there is no caste system in these species) will feed directly from flowers. Once she has infiltrated a host colony, the Psithyrus female will kill or subdue the queen of that colony and forcibly (using pheromones and/or physical attacks) "enslave" the workers of that colony to feed her and her young.[16] The female Psithyrus also has a number of morphological adaptations, such as larger mandibles and a larger venom sac that increase her chances of taking over a nest.[17] Upon hatching, the male and female Psithyrus disperse and mate. Like non-parasitic bumblebee queens, female Psithyrus find suitable locations to spend the winter and enter diapause upon being mated.

From Wikipedia. Yeah Wiki runs our lives.

 

[rave420]

i would be worried, because the presence of a harmless bumblebee indicates the link to the outdoors. That means that probably not just a bumblebee can march into your garden whenever it wants to. I'd close the connection to the outside, just so nothing else can come inside.