Huge bumble bee

[Vergilius]

Q bumbles have red stripes rather than classic yellow and black.


Ben P

 

[richardbees]

Liam - Don't bother as in my experience no self-respecting BB is going to set up home in a plastic bottle, at the very least she'll be looking for ventilation!

Chris
Nice photo, clearly shows the identifying parts. single wing etc = what don't you like about it?

 

[newportbuzz]

Can you explain the 2 hose to 4ft of hose in the coke bottle, is the hose left lying on the ground.
Regards
Liam C

sure.
you attach the hose to the coke bottle so it acts as a tunnel for the bees to enter. (another poster noted that normal sized garden hose is to small.) this is then buried aswell put some holes in the hose so it doesnt waterlog. so all you will have is the tip of the hose coming out from the ground at a slight downwards angle to avoid water.
ill see if i can find a pic or a website.

 

[newportbuzz]

sure.
you attach the hose to the coke bottle so it acts as a tunnel for the bees to enter. (another poster noted that normal sized garden hose is to small.) this is then buried aswell put some holes in the hose so it doesnt waterlog. so all you will have is the tip of the hose coming out from the ground at a slight downwards angle to avoid water.
ill see if i can find a pic or a website.

its very similar to the second pic on this website
http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk/nest_boxes.htm

 

[Gardenbees]

What sort of habitat do you have GB? and what are the surroundings? Do you not have the Common Carder Bumblebee B. pascuorum there?

Yes - I was thinking of strict bumblebees but we have carder bees too. They are quite common in the garden in summer and autumn, but oddly enough I've never seen any early/nesting ones.

My garden is in Stroud, about 140ft long, south-facing, and adjacent to the railway line which has a long stretch of grassy and brambly edges - including a lot of teasels, which is why I call my home apiary Teasel Bees. Being a long and south-facing garden on lime-rich soil, I get loads of bees and hoverflies, including mining bees and their parasitic followers. My own bees get the benefit of lots of gardens and in particular the miles of blackberry flowers alongside the railway line, all sunny, undisturbed and not next to any traffic except for hourly trains. The veg patch is always heaving with bumblebees too.

I really ought to go to more trouble to identify the various cuckoo bees, carder bees and solitary bees around the garden.

 

[8LGM]

if you can find a mouse nest it acts as a lure for the queens same as brood comb does for our swarms
another way of homing them is an upturned flowerpot buried with a hosepipe as an entrance.

I've had a purpose built BB hive in my garden several year now. Tried all different positions and even put a wild mouse nest in it. But to no avail.

Each year I see masses of queen BBs at certain time in the early year so I hope this year to catch one (easy) and put it in my box with some fondant and Pollen patty and hope she takes.

My neighbour has a bird box and the BBs love it. I do everything by the book and they ignore me.

As a very Bee aware person once said - the bees never read the books

Hope you are successful. BBs are very beautiful and gentle creature

 

[Erichalfbee]

I've tried all sorts of nests but they prefer to set up home in our dry stone walls.
Last year we had a nest in a grass tussock. I found it while gardening and placed a roof over it.

 

[Heather]

Had 3 crackers flying to my windows yesterday- feeding on the plants-looking good.
I like to think they are from the 3 nests I rescued last year and installed in my garden- they all completed a normal time cycle so the move didn't disturb them. Spring is nearly here - just need to tell the sun!

 

[kazmcc]

Thank you everyone for the links and the advice. The making of nests sounds like a good idea for the kids, but if they tend not to be successful, the children may be come disappointed.....something I've learned from doing the Gardening Club, try and make sure any projects the childrens do have a high probability of success or they lose interest. I suppose we could try it but explain that bumbles prefer to find their own homes. Who knows? We may be lucky.

Chris, the bees are on a large allotments. There is a stream running through it and there are two city parks situated on each side, although I doubt the bees get that far as there is so much for them close by. There are Elms, Limes, Birches, Horse chestnuts....pretty much every type of tree nearby, and plenty of gardens too. I think our bees are spoilt for choice really. We are lucky to have the balsam by the stream too in autumn.

I will definietly check out these links, and try and identify what we have. It would be nice if the kids could try and identify them too. I'll see what can be done, maybe laminated picture cards. The children find the bees fascinating, and have no fear at all, just curiosity. We do have the childrens suits, but so far I've only taken my own children down there. Hopefully the school will be taking groups for inspections this year. As I am not staff I cannot take the children myself, I go along to waffle about them, that's all

 

[Chris Luck]

Here's an interesting one from last Autumn stuck between the lid of a hive and the brood box...

Anyway, I would start with the easy ones kazmcc, like some of these for example all of which are timid and easy to observe. As always it's a case of providing the correct habitat and of course what is already present to some extent in the immediate surroundings.


Good old Bombus terrestris Probably what you saw. Any underground cavity, rock or log pile, old vole hole etc. Occasionally in stone walls and I would guess the UK's commonest.

Anthidium sp - European Wool Carder Bee, makes nests in cavities in walls, dead wood etc. Will use "bee tubes".

Another really easy one and an important early pollinator, the Red mason bee, poor photo but shows using a wheelbarrow handle. Any holes in wood or cane "bee house".

Common easy ground nesting solitary bee, many species will use well compacted bare soil.

If you want to be a bit adventurous you could put some empty snail shells, (those that are whole after being eaten by glow-worm larvae or maybe some you have eaten yourself), at the base of a hedge or shrub in a sunny location, these may attract Osmia species.

http://tinyurl.com/6zg2xoz

Later,
Chris

 

[drstitson]

8LGM

are you using dowsing to find appropriate spots to locate your BB hives?

 

[kazmcc]

Wow! Thanks again Chris. These things can be easily arranged, such as the log pile, the kids can collect snail shells etc. Could you tell me though what the first picture is? I couldn't make it out.

 

[Chris Luck]

Ahhh, that is one that isn't always treated with proper respect by fussy gardeners. especially when they chew the rose leaves.

http://www.arkive.org/megachile-leaf-cutter-bee/megachile-centuncularis/photos.html

Chris

 

[Erichalfbee]

First bumble today. Bombus terrestris. She was lying comatose in a crocus flower so I brought her in, gave her some sugar, she warmed up and fed then buzzed loudly away

 

[kazmcc]

Ahhh, that is one that isn't always treated with proper respect by fussy gardeners. especially when they chew the rose leaves.

http://www.arkive.org/megachile-leaf-cutter-bee/megachile-centuncularis/photos.html

Chris

That is the most amazing thing! I wouldn't mind a few chewed leaves for a couple of those babies, the fellow plot owners might not agree with me though heehee.