Bumble Bees

[Mujician]

I was wondering if anyone here had any tips on how to encourage bumble bees into gardens. I would like to make a nest box or two but have read that some commercial boxes don't tend to have very good success. I saw on Blue Peter (years ago) how to make what looked like a good nest box but glueing two aquatic plant pots together and filling them with moss, then glueing two regular plant pots over the top and making entrance and exit holes and then the whole thing is buried with just a bit of aquatic pipe sticking out of the ground for the bees to go in.

Any thoughts or other ideas?

 

[pargyle]

Plant flowers that attract them ... and leave an area that is a bit 'wild' with piles of stone, a few log piles and some long grass, if you have room for a small pond or just an old sink with some stones and gravel filled with water will help. Bees could survive without our interference but if you must help then have a look at the Bumble Bee Conservation Trust site.

There are bumbles that are endangered species but they tend to be found in less populous areas than the Midlands - you will find lots of fairly common and some quite uncommon wildlife will come to your garden with just a few small alterations. Don't be too prissy is the best thing you can do.

http://bumblebeeconservation.org/get-involved/