I have small bumblebee's nesting in the ground by my back door. Wondering how to eradicate them without killing them?

Hi Nancy!

Can't you learn to live with them? They will move on come Fall. Bumble Bees are not aggressive and are important pollinators.

Here is a link that explains how to move the nest if you really feel you must - instructions are half way down the page.

http://www.buzzaboutbees.net/b...

@nancbailey, Nancy, due to the severe decline in honeybees, bumblebees are the prime pollinators in our garden. Please don't disturb them unless you absolutely have to.

Thank you all for the information on the honey bee issue. I will leave the nest alone

I think perhaps the site Anne referred to is in the UK? I can only say that I have been stung by bumblebees, on more than one occasion, when I inadvertently got too close to the nest without realizing they were there. One even chased me a few yards when I ran away, and stung my hand when it caught up to me. Needless to say I gave the nest locations a wide berth after that!

I found this on another (UK?) bee website:

"Bumblebees are reluctant to sting, and appear to do so only if they are mishandled or their nest is threatened. However I have heard recently that some species of bumblebees found in America (north and south) are more aggressive than European species. So always treat bumblebees with respect as there are some people who have an allergy to bee venom that can lead to death even after just a single sting if not treated promptly."

From: http://www.bumblebee.org/bodyS...

@sooby, That's interesting. I've never encountered a bumblebee nest but we have many bumblebees busy in our garden. I've never found them to be aggressive and I've never been stung by one.

I've never had a problem with them either and have worked along side them when hand pollinating flowers without any incidents.

I've never had a problem with them when working with flowers that they are also working, such as catmint which they love and are all over. I only got stung when I inadvertently weeded too close to their nest hole in the ground on a couple of occasions. I couldn't believe it when that one chased me and then stung me on the hand! Once I knew the nests were there I avoided getting too close and all was well. Maybe Canadian bumblebees are grumpier

I'll take bumblebees over paper wasps any day, and don't get me started on yellow jackets and hornets. I like bumblebees. They are welcome in our garden any time.

They will sting if you disturb their nest, but not usually under any other circumstances, and they don't loose their stinger like honeybees. I have had bad bee sting reactions years ago, but the bumblebee got me 3 times just above my eyebrow, and aside from swelling, it wasn't as bad. We were dragging brush over a nest. I've been told that you don't outgrow the allergy, but I seem to have, as I got stung by a honeybee a couple months ago and had no adverse reaction.

nancbailey said:I have small bumblebee's nesting in the ground by my back door. Wondering how to eradicate them without killing them?

Cannot be done.
They are not destructive like honey bees and only use a nest once.
I had them under the siding while putting up new siding and we both survived .

Bumble bees are not aggressive and are important to your flowers and veggies. And the males do not even have stingers. Honeybees have barbed stingers and can sting only once and are slightly aggressive if disturbed (like if you walk on one barefoot). Yellow jackets and wasps are the ones to worry about..