Yes, I know we all love pollinators BUT. Just today there have been dozens of bees in and out of the airbricks in my back garden. I'm pretty sure they're honey bees, and research shows it's ideal swarming weather.
Under most circumstances I'd leave them to it, but we have a new and inquisitive puppy who has already shown a keen interest, and of course she's going to get herself stung. So, whoya gonna call?
I can block the bricks with mesh, spray smelly stuff to deter them, but what happens to the bees already inside, who have no doubt started building inside the void under my house?
If you can get a photo of one of the bees that would be very useful. A lot (I mean a LOT...) of people think they've got honeybees when they haven't. Could potentially be solitary bees of some sort hatching out from the brick?
If you've got a sheet of fine mesh (smaller than 4mm holes so a bee can't get through) or a sheet of glass, then you can prop that up in front of the air brick so that bees can still escape at the sides but can't fly straight into the brick.
Smelly stuff or a bit of smoke will certainly deter them if they are scout honey bees. If they've already moved in then it won't do much!
I’m pretty sure they’re honey bees, there’s a lot of them. I’ve sprayed vinegar round the air bricks and ordered citronella to deter them further. With any luck they’re scouting, and won’t report back favourably.
They’re a bit quick to get a decent closeup…..
but we have a new and inquisitive puppy who has already shown a keen interest
Whatever you do you won't be able to keep bees out of your garden, presumably blocking their access to the air brick will simply cause them to loiter around buzzing.
If your new puppy is stung the experience will teach him/her of the value of not touching yellow and black stripey flies, no matter how tempting. There is a reason for the yellow and stripes and it isn't just because of great dress sense !
I understand your concern though but I would worry more if it was wasps, they are more likely to have a pile-on, bees I would expect to keep their cool to a large extent.
I was mortified when Marcus the Cat got stung by a wasp when he was just a small kitten, it was clearly a very painful experience, but it was a lesson learnt and 8 years later it has never happened again.
We have bees in the garden. Can't work out where the hive is. There are loads of them in a hedge by the back door and usually a cloud hanging out by a lean-to but never seen them actually go inside. We also have a couple of dogs. They don't tend to get stung more than once in my experience 😀
It’s not just the one sting I’m worried about, there’s quite a few of them…..
Oh, and before anyone mentions the plants, they’re dog-roses that looked like they’d failed in the drought, but are being nursed back to life in a border that’s just been built!😀
That looks like the scene near our back door. I'm not an expert on bees and I know there are lots of different types. But the ones we have never seem like they are suddenly going to attack the dogs (or us) on mass. You can walk through a cloud of them and they don't seem to bother you. When they were puppies the dogs would try to jump up and catch one, until they succeeded and realised it wasn't such a bright idea after all 😀
Local village/town FB group, ask for numbers for local beekeepers.. they tend to me willing to help/advise (more bee for them afterall...)
Good luck OP - our neighbours have bees that have taken up residence in the chimney (via a hole in a very small roof). This would be fine but for the bees in the living room and honey dripping down the chimney…
They certainly fly like honeybees. I would try some air freshener, and don't be shy with it. You can put some marigolds on in case the bees are feeling feisty. Scout bees wouldn't normally be aggressive but a bit of caution doesn't hurt. A swarm arrival could well be imminent looking at the number of bees, and it's much easier to put the scouts off that to get rid of them once they're in there. My bees like to drink off the compost heap, so im not sure that vinegar will deter them! And the citronella will be too late. I would also try and get some glass or fine mesh over that of the flying bees will struggle to get in then.
I would make this a priority, otherwise you may well find a swarm arrives this afternoon!
Got a closeup. 
So, airbricks now covered with sheet material, gaps for escape left. I’ve found some temp fencing to keep inquisitive little . noses away.
Let’s see where we go from here.
Google AI on that image says it's likely to be an Africanised honey bee... I. E. Killer bee 🤣
Seems unlikely to me
I guess the question is - whats on the other side of the air brick?. When bees swam its becuase they've outgrown their existing hive and decide to up sticks and look for something larger.
So they'd only be interested in your air brick if theres a beehive sized / shaped space on the other side of it. (which seems unlikely)
They also swarm densely - around the queen - as they move to that new site that a scout will have sought out in advance.
What happened at our house once though - was a hive that had swarmed had failed to find anywhere to re-establish a hive and after days were getting exhausted - so they'd alighted out our house not becuase there was a suitable hive site but because they were out of options and individually they were just trying to get into anything. So they were crawling in through extractor fans and air vents but once they got in they were just dying
If there is a swarm incoming what beekeepers do to the catch them is just turn up with a attractively (to a bee colony) sized cardboard box, usually with a bit of wax and honey inside - and place it where the bees are active - it'll be more like the space the swarm is looking for than anything your house might offer and the bees just all head into that instead. So that might be a worthwhile option just now - place a box of crate somewhere away from the house (open end down with one end propped up a bit)
The airbricks lead into a void between the ground floor and the footings. There’s about 3feet of headroom. More than enough room for a number of hives I’m afraid.
with any luck I’ve deterred them before the swarm.
Google AI on that image says it's likely to be an Africanised honey bee... I. E. Killer bee 🤣
Seems unlikely to me
Fortunately Apple Lookup is a little less alarmist 😀
110% honeybee.
Is it less busy now?
Hopefully you haven't got a swarm in there already. When it gets dark and they've all gone to bed you can tape up the vents with duct tape (no gaps). Then if you remove it tomorrow there shouldn't be any (or many) bees coming out. If there are a lot of bees coming out then you have a problem...
In the long term it needs fine wire mesh over it to stop bees coming back next year.
Is it less busy now?
Just a dozen or so left exploring various nooks and crannies.
Duct tape at the ready. Thanks very much for your advice. It really is appreciated.
Yay! We’re now bee free! And no one has been stung 😉
It's not an air brick, it's an air bee n bee for the summer holidays.
^^good grief😂^^
Glad to hear it worked out in the end. Bees are great (I have 10 hives at the bottom of the garden plus plenty of masonry bees in the walls of the house) but you don't want a honey bee colony at ground level on your patio. The sheer number of bees flying at this time of year would be problematic, and that's assuming they are a nice friendly colony, which they aren't always.
Bees fly in a straight line and once they've got used to a route they'll fly that route regardless. Putting up a screen in front of the entrance is a good idea, they'll eventually get used to it and then fly vertically before zooming off. When we had hives in the garden we always put the entrance towards a fence otherwise you get them straight lining to the entrance at head height.
If your new puppy is stung the experience will teach him/her of the value of not touching yellow and black stripey flies, no matter how tempting. There is a reason for the yellow and stripes and it isn't just because of great dress sense !
My dog seems to enjoy eating the spicey flies no matter how many times he gets stung
