Results 1 to 10 of 10

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

  1. #1
    Slightly Mad Moderator ladylouise62's Avatar
    Real Name
    Louise
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Reading, Berks (England)
    Posts
    4,209
    Cameras and Equipment

    Olympus Evolt E520, and borrowed lenses and flash. Fuji Finepix S7000 for Macro A chair :)

    Default 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
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	SH9495 -1105 15-Bumble Bee B terrestris.jpg 
Views:	211 
Size:	356.2 KB 
ID:	17328  

  2. #2
    Administrator rolf's Avatar
    Real Name
    Rolf
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Tilehurst, Berkshire
    Posts
    11,264
    Cameras and Equipment

    Olympus E-30, Sigma 50-500mm Lens, Sigma 150mm Macro lens, Zuiko 70-300mm lens, Sigma 50mm F1,4 lens, Extension tube, 1.4x tele-converter, Carbon FibreTripod, Monopod, Vanguard Binoculars, Celestron 80F-ED Scope, Remembird recorder.

    Default

    LOL, that's nature for you.
    Rolf

  3. #3
    Super Moderator Catherine's Avatar
    Real Name
    Catherine
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Retford, Nottinghamshire
    Posts
    3,277
    Cameras and Equipment

    Fujifilm FinePix S8200 plus Samsung J5 mobile phone camera. Chinon Compact 9-21 x 25 RB binoculars and 10x - 30x60 Zoom binoculars

    Default

    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.

  4. #4
    Slightly Mad Moderator ladylouise62's Avatar
    Real Name
    Louise
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Reading, Berks (England)
    Posts
    4,209
    Cameras and Equipment

    Olympus Evolt E520, and borrowed lenses and flash. Fuji Finepix S7000 for Macro A chair :)

    Default

    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

  5. #5
    Slightly Mad Moderator ladylouise62's Avatar
    Real Name
    Louise
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Reading, Berks (England)
    Posts
    4,209
    Cameras and Equipment

    Olympus Evolt E520, and borrowed lenses and flash. Fuji Finepix S7000 for Macro A chair :)

    Default

    ****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!!!!!
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	SH_5209554-crop.jpg 
Views:	198 
Size:	326.4 KB 
ID:	17387  
    Last edited by ladylouise62; 20-05-2011 at 11:54 PM. Reason: Add photo

  6. #6
    Administrator rolf's Avatar
    Real Name
    Rolf
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Tilehurst, Berkshire
    Posts
    11,264
    Cameras and Equipment

    Olympus E-30, Sigma 50-500mm Lens, Sigma 150mm Macro lens, Zuiko 70-300mm lens, Sigma 50mm F1,4 lens, Extension tube, 1.4x tele-converter, Carbon FibreTripod, Monopod, Vanguard Binoculars, Celestron 80F-ED Scope, Remembird recorder.

    Default

    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.
    Rolf

  7. #7
    Slightly Mad Moderator ladylouise62's Avatar
    Real Name
    Louise
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Reading, Berks (England)
    Posts
    4,209
    Cameras and Equipment

    Olympus Evolt E520, and borrowed lenses and flash. Fuji Finepix S7000 for Macro A chair :)

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rolf View Post
    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.
    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!

  8. #8
    Regular Member
    Real Name
    joe
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Woodley Reading
    Posts
    1,020
    Cameras and Equipment

    Nikon D300,nikon 70-200 +1.7 converter. Nikon 105 mm Macro with VR Sigma 300 with X2 converter Nikon P5000 with fieldscope and Binos Nikon D7000 Nikon 17-55 mm F2.8

    Default

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

  9. #9
    Super Moderator Catherine's Avatar
    Real Name
    Catherine
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Retford, Nottinghamshire
    Posts
    3,277
    Cameras and Equipment

    Fujifilm FinePix S8200 plus Samsung J5 mobile phone camera. Chinon Compact 9-21 x 25 RB binoculars and 10x - 30x60 Zoom binoculars

    Default

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

  10. #10
    Slightly Mad Moderator ladylouise62's Avatar
    Real Name
    Louise
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Reading, Berks (England)
    Posts
    4,209
    Cameras and Equipment

    Olympus Evolt E520, and borrowed lenses and flash. Fuji Finepix S7000 for Macro A chair :)

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by joe View Post
    That last shot is really good. Can't you borrow a macro lens from Rolf.
    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

    Quote Originally Posted by Catherine View Post
    Do you think they hibernated there over the winter - and liked it so much they decided to stay to nest?
    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?
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	SH_5219677.jpg 
Views:	200 
Size:	357.0 KB 
ID:	17408  
    Last edited by ladylouise62; 22-05-2011 at 11:00 AM. Reason: add comment, name of shrub

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Bumblebees
    By WD-40 in forum Wildlife News feeds
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 06-03-2012, 04:41 PM
  2. Bumblebees prefer stripy flowers
    By WD-40 in forum Wildlife News feeds
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 12-10-2010, 09:03 AM
  3. Rare bumblebees making comeback
    By WD-40 in forum Wildlife News feeds
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 05-10-2010, 06:25 AM
  4. How 'fussy food' holds key to bumblebees' survival
    By WD-40 in forum Wildlife News feeds
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 08-09-2009, 09:25 AM
  5. Bumblebees outwit robotic spiders
    By WD-40 in forum Wildlife News feeds
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 04-09-2008, 07:52 PM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Copyright of members' images remains with the individual member and these images may not be reproduced or downloaded without their written permission.
If you cannot contact the relevant member for permission, please contact Thames Valley Birds and we will pass on your request.

pets and plants

WYW
Birding Top 500 Counter RSPB - Nature's Voice
The Admin Zone Directory of Forums


Top Lists