Bees in compost pile

[RamonaGS]

Well are you hoping to harvest honey, or are you just afraid of moving the hive and angering all those bees? If it's the later, if you contact a local bee keeper, they are usually more than happy to come to your property and retrieve a hive free of charge because they are usually looking for more hives and more honey. You might find a local bee keeper if you go to a local health food store, or farmer's market you can usually find local honey and therefore local honey farms.

[rainbowgardener]

Honey bees are precious these days. If they really are honey bees and are doing well there, can't you just start a new compost pile somewhere else? I know it is a shame to give up on a year's worth of compost, but the bees will make up for it, by what they contribute to your garden.

My Quaker Meeting was keeping a bee hive, but the bees died despite our best efforts and the fact that our five acre property is totally organic and has been since the 1970's....

[toxcrusadr]

I would be looking for a bee expert to ID them.

Beekeepers love to get swarms found hanging from tree limbs like a giant football made of bees. They haven't found a new home yet. I don't know exactly how they would handle a hive that's already set up shop in a compost pile. You'd have to ask them.

If you don't have luck at the farmer's market try calling your County Ag Extension office and ask them. They usually know who's doing what in the area.

One way to keep them from coming back every year might be to set up an actual hive next to the compost pile for them to use. If you can't beat em, join em!

[ElizabethB]

Do a search for bee keepers in your area or contact your county agent for information. Bee keepers will be more than happy to collect the hive if they actually are honey bees.

Good luck

[Ohio Tiller]

With out a picture I am not sure but I am doubtful they are honey bees. Yes I could be wrong but generally bees will build their nests (wild bees) as high as they can to protect themselves from honey eating or bee eating predators. I am willing to bet you have yellow jackets in that pile. They do look a little like honey bees but are smaller and way more aggressive. I just got stung once on each ankle last weekend while cleaning up a brush pile. I would rather get stung by 10 honey bees than by one yellow jacket!
Honey bee


Yellow jacket

[Ohio Tiller]

Oh and if they are honey bees don't kill them it is illegal in most every state and I am sure it is in NY everything else is there!

[AyatollahGondola]

We got a lot of attention from bees in our compost pile just after dumping a lot of refuse from making grape juice. The skins, seeds, and such were dumped in there by the half gallons over a period of a few days in the summer. No hives formed, but the collectors were crawling all over in scores. They loved that stuff

[toxcrusadr]

Yellow jackets do indeed nest in the ground and they are mean, mean, mean. Did I say mean? They will chase you down the block if you make them mad. And just getting too close will make them mad, whereas honeybees are like your best pal in comparison.