I don't know but I have emailed our local group to see what they suggest. They are a very active group in our area and often come along to plant fairs and try to persuade people to buy open/single flowers especially for the bees.

Ta. These are not honey bees by the way. We think they are one of the type which whilst not living in communities, do like to nest near to each other.

If the tree stump has been rotting for quite some time, then for natures sake could it be removed later in the year when they are inactive, could a local bee keeper help?

Sadly no, the water pipe next to the stump has to be repaired.
These are not the kind of bees which bee keepers are interested in. They are a form of either bumble or possibly mining bee. They have a white rear end, but no obvious yellow stripes on them.

I was thinking it could be the white tailed bumble bee, but that does have a yellow stripe, if you have an area of garden that you could dig a small hollow in the ground, then you could try and move it, that said you would have get protected and be quick, I once used one of those old turfing irons to move one, I managed it but had to make a dash for it, the bees rebuilt the nest quickly and it felt good to have helped nature, I was reading recently somewhere that in the next twenty years 40% of our insects will be lost forever, with this in mind it may be worth asking a local bee keeper if he could kindly help you.

Too late. The whole stump suddenly keeled over when we had a huge gust of wind scream down the garden. The ground is sodden too. Been out to look and there is no sign of the bees now. Think they must have been blown away.

This is the reply I got OWD

"Thank you for your enquiry.

I assume these are bumblebees as they are the most likely type of bee to build a nest in the base of a tree stump. Bumblebees build a new nest each year which naturally dies out at the end of the season (say September time). The queen bumblebees then hibernate through the winter and it all starts again next spring. So the best time to remove the stump would be in the autumn / winter months.

However, if removal of the stump is urgently needed to protect the property I would go ahead as soon as possible. I am not an expert in bumblebees but I would expect the worker bees in the nest to drift away from the location, once their nest has gone, and join other bumblebee nests nearby. "

so it looks as if they have gone else where. and no stings either:o)

Cheers. Been out this morning to cut up the stump to take it to the recycling yard and no sign of any bees. Sad, but that is what happens.