Bumblebees are nesting in my garden!!!! (B.Terrestris)

The good thing about this is that's just what I wanted - the bad thing is that they had chosen a very inconvenient place - my green house, in the single planting space!!!

The story is that at the end of the year before last I broke up a very old bed which had lots of horsehair and padding in the base. I was planning both to slowly add it to the compost heap and also to see if it might be attractive to bumble bees (they like to use old mouse nests, so like their padding used!!!). Anyway, I wasn't well last year so it just sat inside my only partially-glazed greenhouse.

This winter it was used by Hedgehogs so although I thought about clearing it up earlier in the year, I didn't know when it would be safest to tackle it.

Last weekend I went in to clear it up ready for a load of Tomatoes that I have potted up, only to spot up to 4 bees at a time making their way into the heap..... which is not at one end, but right at the middle!!!

So - it looks like I will have to take out the staging on the other side if I want to plant into the ground... bugger!!!!! Still, it's fun watching them fly in and out.... and hunting about for a way in as they don't all use the same place (or maybe they just forget where it is :)

LOL, that's nature for you.:)

If there's any room at either side of the bees' nest for even just one plant, you'd get lots of tomatoes from them, Louise, as the Bees would ensure pollination there!

We once followed a wildlife programme's advice by placing an upturned flower pot in our rockery - amongst the plants and stones. We were lucky the first year as it housed a family of Carder Bees, and we watched those tiny 'teddy bears' buzz in and out in a continual stream for most of the summer.:) They didn't appear the next year though.:(

There is enough room to stick at least one in, but it would make watering difficult as I wouldn't want to drown them out! :-) I might try a pot, but it's never as good as in the ground :( Still, I did want some bees :)

****UPDATE***
I noticed a different (larger) type of Bumbly having a rest on a leaf hanging down over the greenhouse staging (which is the opposite side from the nest), so grabbed the camera to take a shot. As I kneeled there trying to stop the cat from rubbing up against me and moving me too much to get a non-wobbly photo (which I didn't) I saw another one come out from the corner (from behind a large pile of pots etc).. then another one. There are not as many as in the first nest, but there's no other reason for a number of Bumblies to be in that dark corner unless they live there!!!

I cannot say that the one I shot is the same type as appear to be in the second nest as they were all too busy moving, and any landing was done behind the pots, but they were bigger than the first bees, so definitely a different sort. It's bee-central here!!!!!

That's good, we will of course expect some great photos.;) That's where that 70-300mm comes into its own, macro photos from more than a metre away.

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Originally Posted by rolf

That's good, we will of course expect some great photos.;) That's where that 70-300mm comes into its own, macro photos from more than a metre away.

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You would think so, wouldn't you? But being inside the greenhouse I can't get a clear shot from a distance. It will have to be the short lens from inside... lucky that it's not wasps! ;)

That last shot is really good. Can't you borrow a macro lens from Rolf.

Do you think they hibernated there over the winter - and liked it so much they decided to stay to nest?

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Originally Posted by joe

That last shot is really good. Can't you borrow a macro lens from Rolf.

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Thanks, Joe, although it should have been cleaner, but the cat wouldn't stop rubbing up against me and 'rocking the boat' :-)

I do have macro facility, but they don't stay still for long - they mostly just fly in and out. I stood poking my camera through a missing pane yesterday for 20 mins (the only clear line of sight) - I didn't manage to shoot a single one (even a bad shot!) as they were too quick... but I did get a bad back as it wasn't an easy position to stay in - so it's nice to know that I came out of it with something to remember it with :)

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Originally Posted by Catherine

Do you think they hibernated there over the winter - and liked it so much they decided to stay to nest?

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That's certainly an idea. It's missing about a third of its glass so the access is good, it's relatively dry and pretty well insulated (I had been storing a load of old rubbish, errmm, potentially useful items in there)... and I do try and keep a steady supply of nectar in the garden from early to late in the year. A real 'Des Res'" :)
They are all having a go at one of my flowering shrubs (I've forgotten the name , I've attached a photo - I did a quick search online and couldn't see it), which flowers a couple of times a year over quite a long period and is very popular when it's out.

Just remembered - it's a Hebe - ain't old age memory failure great? :)