</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Bumblebees are actually referred to (by my exterminator, at least) as carpenter bees. The reason for this name is also the reason you haven't seen any bumblebee/carpenter bee hives - they bore into wood and live inside the wood. The nest I had was inside a 2x8 deck joist that was old and dry (not dry rotted). The wood was still pretty thick near the hive, unlike a termite infestation, so there was still some strength to the wood. I looked at the entrance hole, didn't find an alternative exit/entrance, so I just nailed a piece of wood over the hole and trapped them all inside. I probably shouldn't have, as they are very docile (for a stinging creature), but my little boy doesn't need any stings, docile or not! The deck is long gone now, as we remodeled 2 years ago.<br><br>PaulT )</font>
Bumble bees are docile unless you threaten their nest. I found this out the hard way. We'd been seeing bumble bees around the house, in the flowers and they are not aggressive in the least in that situation.
But get the mower too close to their nest (it was either in or under a woodpile) and it's a whole different ballgame. They chased me all the way back to the house and got me once. I hated to do it, but I couldn't tolerate that and doused the area with a bucket of Diazinon, then bombed it with Sevin dust. It must have worked.