I have just acquired one of these ^^^^ which I shall be siting soon. I believe this may be the Springwatch article on this nest box shown at 12m 25secs....
I've placed both my insect & bee nest boxes in the wood store on my patio, which is south facing. They are about 6ft from the ground. I figured this would help keep the weather off them. Though Im not sure if they would be better placed further out into the garden?
I was eyeing these up yesterday! Also ladybird houses - I keep finding them in the casing of my gate lock, as in the bit the bolt slides into, which is a silly place as I don't realise they're there as I'm locking the gate!
In the aeons of time before neat and tidy gardeners came along who or what was it that cleared those " nasty elements " away ? , think about it for a moment and don't get led up the garden path by those who just want to sell you something .
In the aeons of time before neat and tidy gardeners came along who or what was it that cleared those " nasty elements " away ? , think about it for a moment and don't get led up the garden path by those who just want to sell you something .
I disagree as far as the Nurturing Nature bee boxes, theirs are completely different to anything else you can buy. I don't see many on the market that allow you to view the nest holes, and the bumble bee box comes with mouse nesting material inside which can be fairly crucial for success. They are a world apart from the cheap cardboard tube type that have limited success. The owner George Pilkington really knows his subject when it coins to bee nesting. But those cardboard tube nests boxes
I'm turning my garden over to pollinators this year, redesigning the garden, ripping out some lawn and planting just for pollinators. The nest boxes I've bought are just part of that overall plan, and I do think we should do anything we can to help the bees. Previous posts on here have shown how some bee boxes can be very successful. Now those bees could no doubt have chosen to nest elsewhere, but we wont ever know. For the little cost involved I think it's worth the effort.
I put my Pilkington bee box out very late last year and thought nothing had nested, but getting it out of the shed this week, I see that one leaf cutter had indeed laid. She plugged it with a rose petal, which is rather lovely; probably Barkarole, for reference.
Kew Gardens are impressed with the box design. So am I. For educational purposes, if nothing else, it's invaluable. You can probably just make out the leaf parcels. There is also something that looks like a moth cocoon on the other side.
Some might think it a waste of money, but I don't have any pets. Compared to how much one might lay out on cats, dogs, chickens, or indeed honey bees, a few proper bee boxes seems like a bargain to me. The expert-designed ones seem to have much higher residence levels. My DIY attempts over the years with bamboo and drilled logs haven't had many visiotrs at all.
I put my Pilkington bee box out very late last year and thought nothing had nested, but getting it out of the shed, I see that one leaf cutter had indeed laid. She plugged it with a rose petal, which is rather lovely; probably Barkarole, for reference.
Kew Gardens are impressed with the design. So am I. For educational purposes, if nothing else, it's invaluable. You can probably just make out the leaf parcels. There is also something that looks like a moth cocoon on the other side.
Can I ask what kind of position you site that box please - on the house wall, out in the garden amongst plants etc?
Posts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DT7x2JKxDc
I'm turning my garden over to pollinators this year, redesigning the garden, ripping out some lawn and planting just for pollinators. The nest boxes I've bought are just part of that overall plan, and I do think we should do anything we can to help the bees. Previous posts on here have shown how some bee boxes can be very successful. Now those bees could no doubt have chosen to nest elsewhere, but we wont ever know. For the little cost involved I think it's worth the effort.