Who is going to try Bumbles next year?

[Kevin M]

Soilman....some folks burn yellowjackets nest out with gas and a match, some use chems. I'm a organic gardener and prefer not to posion the land. What i do is suit up, turn on the water hose, stick it down the entrance (almost always in the ground) and drown what down there.
I usaully wait until almost dark, when there all in the nest. Some folks don't like this method because it may take two days or so to wipe them out. They don't like to let there water pump run that long...
Cyndi....thats so cool with the bumbles in your birdhouses, what size is the entrance hole to those birdhouse that the bumbles moved into...?

[Cyndi]

Kudos to you Kevin. I like your method the best!! I hate using gasoline and chemicals. Although.....I can deal with the alcohol method. I have this guy wanting me to move a hornets nests at a campground. He was very nice about it and didn't want to destroy it, just move it. I'm still thinking about how I want to handle that. He's suppose to be finding me a spot to move it to.

The hole for my birdhouses are 1-3/4" in diameter. The Chickadees are the only birds that have ever taken up residence in them. I originally planned to attract Blue Birds...which I haven't seen in a couple of years now. I think they are vanished...even from the mountains. Anyway, they are huge bees. I've never seen anything quite like them. Are there different types of BB's?? What makes them soo huge compared to the wild BB's that are much smaller? These huge ones are wild too. They all have the same markings pretty much. The larger ones are more definitive in their markings.

Last week we were camping at this campground where the hornets nest is. It's surrounded by national forest land. On several hikes I couldn't help notice all the bumble bees and yellow jackets. There were soooo many wild ones. Of course the BB's were much smaller, but the amount of bees in general this year in the wild is incredible. Alot of people have noticed the same thing here in our area. I have no idea what is up with that.

[Kevin M]

Thanks Cyndi...what is the alochol method you mentioned all about..? I've never heard of that one. I've noticed what bluebirds i had around my house haven't been around for about 3 yrs now...They use to love my heated birdbath and the holly tree berries in the late winter. Sad, their gone...
I have tons of bumbles in my garden, all sizes...i'm sure there are more nest near by, other than the one i found this past week. I haven't found any nesting in my birdhouses, as of yet...I wonder if using a 1" hole would work better, to keep bigger birds out and increase chances of bumbles taking up residence..
I also have noticed many more yellowjackets this yr., must be good conditions for them..

[Keith Benson]

This year all my little bird houses are filled with these huge gigantic bumble bees.

Pics, pics, we want pics!

Keith

[Walliebee]

This year all my little bird houses are filled with these huge gigantic bumble bees. They are soo beautiful. I hope they stay around. They are NOT those huge gigantic yellow jacket japanese thingy's either (they weren't around this year like they were last year...I heard the cold spells we had in spring killed them off - horray!!!)...they are the true blue Bumble Bee. They are soo cool and sooo gentle.

I have them in a bird house too. It's a standard bluebird house. I think the hole is 1.5 inches. A flying tree squirrel wintered over in the house. She brought cedar bark and moss in the house for bedding. When I went to clean it out last spring for the birds to use, the bumbles had moved in.

By the way, we have lots of bluebirds here. They like to catch honeybees in mid flight to feed to their young. It very cool to watch.