Bees colonizing my garden sofa - Any way to convince them relocating?

I am a bit of a cheapskate and also quite keen on recicling things otherwise destined to the landfill.

As such, last year I adapted a sofa to become a bench in our garden. It is not exceedingly pretty but quite confortable and practical.

The thing developed a rip during winter and I was about to fix it, when I realized bees seems to have taken residence into the cavity.

While I love bees, I am not sure whether they will love me back when I sit on their nest to enjoy lunch in the garden.

So, I was wondering if anybody could suggest a non lethal way to convince them to abandon their new house?

 

Buy them a new sofa ?

 

Apart from taping up the hole I cant see of a way of doing it.
And that's not really a friendly way of doing it.

 

Depending on the type of Bees they are there is a good chance they'll just 'buzz off' in 3/4 weeks..I've got a nest in one of my bird boxes (not for the first time) and they just disappear after a short while..Mine are the ones with the buff coloured rear end.

 

Smoke them out and then seal it up?

 

True, I would like to avoid that.

 

Thanks!
I read that some swarms will move , as you describe.
In this case, I suspect they might be carpenters bees, which like to drill into rotting wood to shelter their larvae.
If that is the case, I understand that the males do not sting but can get very annoying if they think you might be a danger to the nest (not that i blame them), while the females can sting but are not particularly agressive.

I am unclear whether carpenter bees do swarm away after a while, but I could wait a few weeks and see what happens.

 

Thanks, if they do not vacate within a few weeks I might do just that, to minimize casualties.