@Fire - cool! I'd like a bee box. One of the ones that's easy to clean out. I've seen ones where you can take the full thing apart and access the grooves to sweep.
Is that what yours are like? I think the one on the left looks like it.
@Mr. Vine Eye I have other types that are much easier to clean but not as well used by bees.
I have this type which is dead easy to dismantle. The whole thing comes apart with two bolts and butterfly nuts. But in about four years it has never been full.
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This one is hand built by George Pilkington, who founded the Bumblebee Trust. He knows his onions. He's spent many years perfecting the design and is still making changes. Kew Gardens and Spring Watch use these boxes. The egg chambers have perspex sides and viewing windows (east and west) so you can peek in at any time and see the bees napping (which they seem to do all summer long in the box) or watch eggs turn to larva etc. The central section slides out. The perspex is screwed in at each corner, so it's a little more of a faff to get inside to clean. "My bees" got going a lot earlier than usual this year (my fault) so I didn't get to cleaning out the box or oiling the wood. But I think it will be fine left for one season. It seems that the dimensions of the holes are pretty critical; also the front and rear design.
George's was completely full - 12 channels on two sides, with about ten eggs in each channels. So about 240 eggs. Not cheap (they have gone up this year) but wonderful to watch, esp if you have kids. I don't own any pets so I consider some mason boxes cheap at half the price.
It's lovely this weekend, in London, but freezing next week and grey. I hope the bees haven't come out too soon and I hope they won't suffer.
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There is raging debate about whether bee nesting sites need cleaning out at all. George P says 'absolutely' because you risk a high density of parasites and microbial disease etc. Others say to let nature get on with it and to stop interfering; worries about cleaning is probably putting people off. As ever, more research is needed to find out the effects one way or the other.
Other posters on this forum have had great success with drilled logs and bamboo, but I never have, after years of trying (probably mine are the wrong depth or gauge). So I'm happy with the five various models I have going at the moment.
I made the mistake of leaving the back door ajar when watering pots this evening. Now I have a house full of mosquitoes; A bedroom full of the bastards. In March.
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The surge in mozzie numbers through climate heating in the UK is really going to be a serious problem, starting in the south; esp in areas of wetlands. Perhaps good for insect biomass. Potentially not good for human health.
@Mr. Vine Eye in the basic boxes in 2020, yes. Last year, just a little which was a surprise - one chamber (so about 12 eggs). I saw no bee leaf nibbling either, though I often do in a typical summer. I was mostly red masons.
@LeadFarmer had a good load of leafcutters overwintering with him, I think.
I made the mistake of leaving the back door ajar when watering pots this evening. Now I have a house full of mosquitoes; A bedroom full of the bastards. In March.
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The surge in mozzie numbers through climate heating in the UK is really going to be a serious problem, starting in the south; esp in areas of wetlands. Perhaps good for insect biomass. Potentially not good for human health.
Are you sure they're not winter gnats? They look very similar and are attracted to light but are beneficial for the garden and not bitey.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
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Is that what yours are like? I think the one on the left looks like it.
I know we must have had some around as Lady of the Lake had lots of tell tale nibbles but I don’t know where they were living.
I ordered one of the basic boxes yesterday afternoon.
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