Forum home› Wildlife gardening

Bumblebees

valerierobertsvalerieroberts Posts: 726
in Wildlife gardening

image

OH has been busy creating a home for bumblebee. It's facing south and inside is clean and dry.  Is there anything else we can do to encouage a tenant to take up residence. How about smearing honey on the entrance? I have surrounded it with flowering crocus in pots which produce pollen to draw them in.

Posts

  • Alan Clark2 in LiverpoolAlan Clark2 in Liverpool Posts: 1,982

    Plenty of advice here:-

    http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/habitats/bumblebee-nests 

  • valerierobertsvalerieroberts Posts: 726

    Thanks Alan, 

    looks as though I will need to re-site it.

  • OnopordumOnopordum Posts: 390

    You might do better with a house for solitary bees. See here: http://www.foxleas.com/make-a-bee-hotel.asp

  • jenny37jenny37 Posts: 3

    Made my bee home this morning took me a while as had to get out in the wet garden to collect teazel stems and then had to try and keep them upright in wooden box a bit tricky but pleased with results come on you little bees.

     

  • jenny37jenny37 Posts: 3

    Thanks Alan for the above site will make this one for bumble bees now.

     

  • HeftyHefty Posts: 370

    v cool - good luck! i hope the bees visit image

  • Wendy BeirneWendy Beirne Posts: 3
    For the past three years we've had bees in our compost heap! Which is brilliant. And I encourage it. But I really want to use the soil from the heap, but feel guilty about doing this, as the bees use the same spot in the heap every year! They nest straight in the middle. It's just typical. ????

    Really don't know what to do. Any ideas
  • OnopordumOnopordum Posts: 390

    Do you just have the one heap - could you turn it now/soon and remove the better quality compost to use (or store for later), while returning the rougher stuff to the heap (or a new heap) for the bees to use if they want to? You could continue adding material on top, then turn it again after the bees have finished.

    That's essentially what I do with ours to encourage nesting grass snakes - turn the (very large) heap and remove the better compost to use some time around now, and pile all the remaining material in a new heap which I cover with a tarpaulin sheet (helps keep the heat/moisture in, and the snakes like to bask under it).

  • HeftyHefty Posts: 370

    saw my first bee today!! yaaaaaaaaay!!!

    image

     

Sign In or Register to comment.