have a look at this bee factsheet and see what best describes your ...

Is it wasps or is it bees?Masonry bee factsMasonry bees: appear early in the season, usually in May live in burrows in mortar on walls are solitary, but you can get large numbers congregating onone wall are unable to penetrate human skin with their sting will usually disappear of their own accord in a few weeks.Bumble bee factsBumble bees: are quite large and at a distance appear to be darker than wasps can buzz (swarm) around the area where their nest is, whereaswasps will fly directly in and out of their nest often hover around barge boards and soffits, but can gounderground too live in small colonies, perhaps up to 50 individuals are very placid, and will rarely bother you.If you can see several insects constantly hovering in one particular area near the nest, theyare likely to be bumble bees. Bumble Bee nests do not continue to grow throughout theseason, unlike a wasps nest which can number in the thousands by the end of the season.Honey bee factsHoney bees: swarm in large numbers can more aggressive if you threaten the colony can arrive all of a sudden and will take up residence in voids thatare big enough for them.If there are lots of insects flying around a chimney pot, it is likely they will be honey bees.They can be removed and relocated by a beekeeper, if they are easily accessible.

Bee information provided by the Norfolk Bee Keeping AssociationResponsibility for bee swarmsThe swarm is not the responsibility of the beekeeper. The swarm isthe responsibility of the person on whose property it has settled andremains so until it has been removed. In the event that it cannotsafely be removed then the owner of the property must decide onwhat action he or she will take.Solitary BeesThese are sometimes referred to as mining bees as they make small holes in the soft mortarjoints in brickwork. Holes in airbrick's, and the ends of garden canes, are also used by thebees for egg laying.They look like honey bees but are sometimes slightly larger and slower in their movements.They can appear in April when the weather warms up and the eggs, which are laid theprevious spring, hatch and adult bees appear. The adults usually survive about 6-8 weeksand during this time they mate and, in the holes from which they have emerged, lay the eggsfor next years bees.Most do not sting and any that could do not because the sting is normally too weak topenetrate the human skin. Left alone they will not usually cause any harm. The numbersappearing at any one time is about 20/50 and unlike the honey bee they do not swarm.It is almost impossible to remove them and it is illegal to poison them. To try and stop themreappearing next year, the holes could be blocked with new mortar or some type of builder'ssealant. It is unwise to block airbricks as they are there for a purpose and should be left open.They are useful as pollinators, so will be seen working on flowers along with the honey bee.Bumble beesThese are easy to identify with their round black furry bodies andfootball jersey liked stripes of either: yellow, orange or rustycoloured.The "Queen" emerges from hibernation in the spring and feeds onnectar and pollen. When the time is right she then searches out asite for the nest, this could be:disused mouse nests undergroundcompost heaps or bins (these are favourite places)unused bird nesting boxesunder garden sheds and other buildings (another favourite place)in wood pilesin thick tufts of grass.Once the site has been selected the queen then starts to lay eggs and from these come theyoung bees, which are small to start with but grow quite quickly if sufficient food is available.A bumble bee nest usually never totals more than a few hundred bees, often quite a lot less.

The nest dies out during late summer/early autumn, only the queen surviving until thefollowing spring.Bumble bees are harmless and will only get agitated if the nest or its entrance is disturbed.Unlike honey bees they do not swarm.Honey beesThe honey bee is the only bee in this country which swarms and theswarming season is usually from mid-April until early August, with Mayand June being the months when swarming is at its greatest.Several days before a swarm emerges from the hive "scout bees" willfly and find various new sites for the swarm to go to and it will be oneof these sites that the swarm will establish a new colony. It is notuncommon for people to mistake this "scouting" especially aroundchimneys, for actual swarms.A swarm will only leave the hive if the weather is right and this is usually on a bright sunnyand warm day with little or no wind, normally mid to late morning is a favourite time.Swarms are easy to spot as there are several thousand bees and it will usually be as large asa football, sometimes larger and they all hang as one mass when they have settled. Solitarybees and bumble bees never swarm and compared with honey bees there are only a few ofthese flying at any one time.Places where swarms settle are:branches of trees and shrubsin or on the outside of hedgesinside garden compost bins assuming there is spaceinside chimneys/central heating fluesin the cavity wall of a buildingon the outside wall of a high building.If the trees/hedges/compost bins are reasonably accessible the beekeeper should be able toremove the swarm without too much difficulty. It is almost impossible to remove honey beesfrom a chimney or cavity if they have been there more than 2/3 days, as in that time they willhave started to build comb and establish themselves. They will probably survive until thewinter but because of lack of food or disease will die before spring. If it is necessary to destroythe bees then this has to be done by a pest control company, beekeepers are not killers ofhoney bees.