Bumble bee homes

[johng]

I just discovered I have some Bumbles in one of my bird houses!! I put up a wood pecker box about 15 feet up in a tree. I filled it will saw dust because I was told the wood peckers like to clean out their nest site. Well no wood peckers moved in but I now have some Bumble bees! They must be hot this afternoon because they are fanning at the front of the box just like my honey bees are.

[robo mantis]

I just discovered I have some Bumbles in one of my bird houses!! I put up a wood pecker box about 15 feet up in a tree. I filled it will saw dust because I was told the wood peckers like to clean out their nest site. Well no wood peckers moved in but I now have some Bumble bees! They must be hot this afternoon because they are fanning at the front of the box just like my honey bees are.

They were nesting in the straight sawdust? Nothing but sawdust? It an interesting observation since a lot of my colonies nested straight in the sawdust.

[robo mantis]

Even if she is working flowers and has pollen on her legs, she may still be caught but would have to be confined in your nest along with a food supply until she has started a nest.

Thats a BIG no no. If she has pollen... she most likely has a nest. If you catch her when she has pollen on her legs, you are probably starving her babies and killing a colony. At the very least is it her first foraging trip after finding a nest site. Basically... if she has pollen she most likely has a nest or a nest site chosen. Trapping her in a box will only mess things up. If you catch queens, catch the ones that are hovering over the grass and inspecting holes.

[johng]

Yes, nothing but saw dust. I'm hoping they come back next year too.

[robo mantis]

My bombus bimaculatus has soft nest materials and they ended up burrowing all the way into the sawdust bedding lol

[Gypsi]

I definitely have lots of useless nucs - maybe I should read that file and turn a couple into bumble houses. Do they have a color preference? (I painted my nucs, one red, one blue, one green, one yellow) I'll check the file for the rest of the specs

[robo mantis]

The color doesn't affect much.The entrance has an effect though. It should make the entrance hole look really noticeable. You can make bumble bee nest site fairly easily. I'm experimenting with different setups. I'm trying to use readily available containers to make into nest sites. I'm going to do lots of work this winter on that.