Confusing conversation about pollinators

[Julie in Ash]

It seems my search for a suitable spot to place my first hive is about to be resolved. Hopefully! I've to see the landowner this week and talk over my plans for the Spring and see if all agree. However, today I have had a strange conversation with the person who is a mutual acquaintance and has set the meet up.

This place is a medium sized flower grower who dabbles in the occasional veg crop of Beans etc. Mostly in poly tunnels. I was told that although they are enthusiastic about having Bees there they think they may not survive long owing to a past experience...

It seems they bought a package deal from a seed company in Holland. They got some Runner Bean seeds, and at the right time were sent boxes of Bees as pollinators for the crop and told to place one box in each poly tunnel, open the boxes and just leave them to it! No instructions for caring for them, not even told to supply water. A month later all the Bees were dead and they attributed this to a neighbouring Apple and Pear grower who they believed had sprayed something which killed all the Bees. BUT! BUT! When further questions were asked, I was told these were very definitely Bumbles!!

Well of course they are all going to be dead a month later, as without a Queen or a nest to make baby Bumbles, they can only survive a few weeks. Honey Bees would be the same admittedly, but a Nuc with a Queen should survive longer than a month if cared for. I do not see a way you could Nuc a Queen Bumble and get her to make babies. Am I wrong??

Has anyone else heard of boxes of Bumbles being sold as crop pollinators like this?? I do admit things may have been lost in translation so maybe those aren't all the facts I've been told today, but it just seemed such a bizarre story. Then again, I am new.

 

[Ian123]

yes bumbles often used like that in tunnels, would be as a small colony with queen though as far as i am aware. I think you need to chat with them and tell them the difference between bumbles and honey bees. a friend provided nucs for tunnel pollination i think they are open but says a very high attrition rate on bees.

 

[Julie in Ash]

Thank you, Ian. Well not so bizarre then. Just seems odd to me when there's obviously plenty of Beekeepers about round here. As I said, these Bumbles received no instruction for care. I'm not surprised they perished TBH.

My Bees won't be going in the tunnels. There's a lot of land there, not all of it in use. The landowner has suggested a bit of scrub land next to a huge Eucalyptus I am told. Bit excited about that.

 

[enrico]

As Ian says, this is common. I have bumble bee nests in my birdbox,s . If placed in a polytunnel they would polinate plants until the queens had been produced and mated at which point they would leave the polytunnel. It is the way they olive. Small colonies growing from one queen. Queen lives over winter and starts again in spring. They sell these packages as short turn pollinators. A hive of honeybees however will last as long as you look after them. Remember bumbles work at lower temperatures than honey bees!
E

 

[Anduril]

This is what they would expect. Click here