Talkback: Moving bumblebee nests - Talkback

20/05/2011 at 18:02

Thanks for the timely advice. I have a nest - same species as yours - right where a poly tunnel's going. Strangely, I wasn't searching for an answer to this 2 week old problem, I was actually looking for an upside down cake recipe. Funny the places life takes us.

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20/05/2011 at 18:58

Pictures - do you have pictures? I have never identified (let alone moved) a bees' nest before but there's one heck of a buzzing from a pile of fluff by our polytunnel!

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20/05/2011 at 20:16

Miss Adventure - go on, let us have your recipe so I can bake cake as a result of writing about bees ;) Graceandflavour - I took one photo (which I'll link to later) but there's really nothing to see. I had to lie down in front of the nest before I could see what the bees were coming in and out of. If you can't locate them they could be underground. Are they troubling you? They'll be gone in 6-8 weeks, then you can dig out the nest and look inside - amazing!!

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21/05/2011 at 10:32

I have two types of bubble bees. One with stripes and the other with a brown bottom. I accidentally dug into a nest two years ago and was surrounded by angry bees, I just stood still and they did not sting me. I realised then that that was their territory. How many species of bubble bee and do they live happily together? Enjoyed reading the info as I do love them!!!Did not know they could sting.

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21/05/2011 at 12:30

Wonderful story! Thank you.

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21/05/2011 at 14:59

i to love bees...last year i had a bees nesting in a birdbox and it was attacked by the waxmoth.....sadly all died or went somewhere else,they didnt come back this year so my little blue-tits nested there and had 6 babies which all left early tuesday morning...[1 by 1 i saw them all fly out of box into the wisteria and then away with mummy and daddy] arhhhhhhhhhhhh. kate...are you bees tree bees....

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23/05/2011 at 05:58

I always thought that the word ' climers' as used in 'things to do' had a 'b' in it. I used to be a proof reader - you can tell !

Gardeners' World Web User

23/05/2011 at 07:53

Great stuff! Bumble bees like old rodent nests, so adding bedding from a family rodent pet can boost adoption rates of artificial nest sites. If it's any consolation, I reared an orphaned brood of blue tits a couple of years ago on a staple diet of waxmoth caterpillars..

Gardeners' World Web User

23/05/2011 at 09:32

What a lovely story. I never never kill a bee and when my mum was alive she even went into a shop where a bee was trapped in the display window, all the shop assistants were going crazy and my mum just went in got into the window and caught the bee in a jar and let it go, and they always seem to fly round and round first then fly off as if to say thank you.

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23/05/2011 at 21:15

Great story! I hope people stop and think before they decide to destroy a nest.

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24/05/2011 at 08:24

lazygardener - there are 24 species of bumblebee in the UK. Around six or seven will visit your garden. You can learn how to identify the main six bumblebees here: sarah's pondlife - your bees will have succumbed to wax moth. Did you clear out the nest before the birds moved back in? No, mine are buff-tailed bees. Wildman of Pershore - I tried that with rodent bedding, all I got was cats sniffing around! And aren't you lovely feeding wax moth caterpillars to bluetits. Lavender Blue/donutsmrs - thank you - here's hoping!

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25/05/2011 at 03:17

all bee's butterflies and birds welcome to my garden,it's the wasps that set up home in my loft that I'm not keen on as they will sting you as soon as look at you where the dear little bee's know it will be the end of them so think twice about the sting.

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25/05/2011 at 08:31

Just had a rummage around the nest to check for wax moth caterpillars. The bees buzzed a bit but didn't even come out to see what I was doing. So tame, now. PS - if anyone does find a bumblebee nest in the garden, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust would love to hear from you. This will help them to understand better where bumblebees nest and what their requirements are. You can fill out the form on their website here.

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25/05/2011 at 08:45

hi kate, yes i did clear the box out with bird cleaner from garden centre..... must of worked as the little birds were as good as in there the same day....was watching them last night [although i thought they had gone] they have gone from 1 nest but are still in moth box as my daughter now says..... also we had a very very large snake in out garden yesterday afternoon.... 'yuk'....

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25/05/2011 at 12:13

Well done Kate, It's always nice to read about people who are so dedicated to their garden wildlife. I'm not so lovely - I had to cut up many of the caterpillars while the chicks were small! Sarahs pondlife - I'm very jealous of your grass snake, always a sign of a healthy ecosystem.

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26/05/2011 at 08:28

Badgers have just destroyed a bumblebees' nest in my garden. It was heartbreaking watching the bees afterwards. It was an incredible bit of digging by the badgers. The soil was rock hard clay and full of large stones. They went down about two feet. Presumably they can smell the honey. Not wishing to sound too flippant, but I wonder if one could harness this digging power by injecting honey deep into the soil.

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26/05/2011 at 09:47

Sarah's pondlife - great news about the birds. Did you find any wax moth pupae in the nest when you emptied it? Wildman of Pershore - I thought of you this morning as there was a woman on the train feeding bits of mealworm to a baby great tit. It was lovely to watch - but I didn't envy her having to do her day job on top of feeding her chick! Dan Kelly - that's really sad. Badgers are known to predate bumblebee nests, especially in dry weather when the worms they usually feed on hide deep underground, out of badgers' reach. You could try to prevent this happening in future by leaving peanuts out for badgers on the lawn. It's an expensive option that might not work, but it may be enough to distract them away from the bees.

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26/05/2011 at 13:42

Kate, Thank you for the bumblebee information, I will have to really take a good look at the bumblebees in my garden. I think I have three of the bumblebees mention. They live underground.

Gardeners' World Web User

26/05/2011 at 19:51

hi kate,yes we did have some so we left it but nothing came of it..we still have them in a small box in garage ..actually was wondering what to do with it,its in a safe and warm place...any ideas.

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27/05/2011 at 06:38

Sarah's pondlife - If it was me, I would destroy them to make sure they're not going to predate another bumblebee nest. But that's just me... lazygardener - ooh do you have a nest in your garden then?