Phew @LeadFarmer, I thought you were going to say you accidentally destroyed the bumble bee nest! Inconvenient but nice to have them! You may recall I was moaning about wasps using my bee houses - I have 3 and they were going in 2. The mason bees have avoided those 2 and only gone in the third so maybe they knew. But although I had loads of them - especially as I had cocoons I'd kept over winter, I have only had 4 tubes filled! And two of those were in the last week! No sign of any leaf cutter action yet...
Thankfully the nest is still active, I've not dug the area anymore but I've been observing it and the bees are still going backwards and forwards to the nest. It's lovely to have it, just frustrating its in an area I wanted to clear.
I messaged David Goulson, the guy who writes all the books on bees, and he said bumble bees vacate their nests at the end of summer, so I'll be able to clear that area then. I feared a Queen would remain inside all winter, but thankfully not.
I'm still doing groundwork in the garden to lay out paths etc, and clearing weeds. Having removed some bags of soil from the top of the bumble bee nest before realising it was there, I've now place a water but lid on top, weighed down with bricks. In this mornings rain it kept the entrance dry, and bees are still going in & out, so thankfully the nest survives.
I'm glad to hear Dave Goulson answered your email - I finished one of his books the other day, "The Garden Jungle" and I liked him, very amusing at times. Good to hear he is nice in real life too. At one point in the book he said he thought the death penalty should apply to people who hang dog poo bags from trees like Christmas decorations I couldn't agree more!
Anyone know when bumble bees vacate their nests? I need to clear a mound of soil where they are nesting, but will wait for them to vacate first. I know they abandon the nest at end of summer, but when is this normally? Anyone know?
... you'd think. They put the males up front because they are less important to the process, but if one or two die in situ, all the females at the back are stuffed.
- -
My leaf single leaf cutter channel shows no signs of emergence. I hope they are all ok. Maybe it's early yet.
Posts
I messaged David Goulson, the guy who writes all the books on bees, and he said bumble bees vacate their nests at the end of summer, so I'll be able to clear that area then. I feared a Queen would remain inside all winter, but thankfully not.
I need to clear a mound of soil where they are nesting, but will wait for them to vacate first. I know they abandon the nest at end of summer, but when is this normally? Anyone know?