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Personally, I would try and persuade the client to let you preserve the area around the nest, if that is possible. Some old logs, pots, few ferns, something like that?
The British Beekeepers Association can be found at:
http://www.bbka.org.uk/help/do_you_have_a_swarm.php
Might be able to help in saving it or pass on some advice.
A mate moved two bumble bee nests last week. He wore his motorbike leathers and helmet. He put the nests into holes he had dug in another area of the garden and covered these holes with large upturned terracotta pots. I believe some of the bees found there own way there. The rest he captured one by one in containers and held them over the drainage holes of the pots until they flew in. He had to do this a few more times over the next couple of days with any confused bees that came back to the original nest sites. I have no idea if this is good practice or whether he sort advice before doing this. As far as I know there have been no problems since.
I was up on a platform / ladders last week and managed to cut into or at least around a bee's nest.
Wasn't a pretty site, tools thrown in all directions & got stung on the face.
I moved the bee nest on my allotment this year, from a compost bin to a hole covered in bricks - a potholder with some experience said they would be fine if the move was within 3-4 meters as they would quickly find the new site, further afield and they may all just return and rebuild in the original location!
Can you let us know how this turns out James?
Thanks for all of the advice and comments. Explained the situation to the customer and she was dead set that she didn't want to kill off the bees, so we have agreed to shelve that part of the job until early winter when the nest will die off naturally. I still got paid, bees survived, and customer feels good about saving wildlife. All's well that ends well! Thanks again.
Bumble bees are in dramatic decline, i would hope that the owners would understand their importance as pollinators and leave them 'bee', the worldwide population is dropping annually and the true cause has not been identified, without bees the human race would be in serious trouble within a few years, yes they are important, perhaps they should be protected.