[EastSideBuzz]

So I have gotten 5 calls in the last week for swarms they all turned out to be bumble bee's. What do you do with bumble bee's.?

Many ask what they can do with them. I tell them just leave them alone. But, what can they do with them.?

 

[ehallspqr]

If you can locate and capture the nest with the queen and most of the workers. Put them in a mini box/hive and then set them out in a garden or greenhouse for pollination. There are commercial producers of these bumblebee hives for sale to commercial greenhouses. They get a couple hundred bucks for one of those little hives. I have built a simple wooden box with a glass top for viewing, like a mini observation hive. Drill a hole for the bees to go in and out of. Makes for an interesting little project although they die out in the fall.

 

[Chick]

This is off subject a little, but Bumble Bees make an orange colored honey, but it is a very small amount, and is suppose to be bitter.

 

[Walliebee]

Can someone explain a bumble bee swarm?

It was my understanding that they only live one season. In the Fall, many new queens are reared, mate, and hibernate as solitary queens until starting a new nest in the Spring. Then the build up is slow, and peaks in size in late Summer. Maybe I'm mistaken.

What are you seeing that is a swarm?

 

[ENCRickey]

My guess is someone uninformed sees bees coming and going from his shed, instantly comes to the conclusion bees are swarming in his shed and calls to report said swarm.

 

[magista]

I've gotten a couple calls from folks stating the have a "bee swarm" in their yard.

After asking a couple question it turned out that they were bumbles that had moved into old birdhouses. I just tell them to leave them alone and enjoy the fact they have nice fat bumblebees in their yard.

Quite a few folks don't know a bumble from a honeybee. They just think a bee is a bee.

 

[BigDru]

Bumble bees are big business here in Eastern Washington. I have a friend who is part of the development of better alphalfa for this area. They use bumble bees for pollination. Pretty cool to see several hundered of those things buzzing around a green house.

 

[ehallspqr]

When disturbed they do fly around in what could be called a small swarm. People think yellow jackets, Bumble bees and just about anything else that flies is a bee. Unless the Bumble bees are in a location to be a potential stinging hazard then the best thing is to leave them where they are. Explain they are very beneficial and that they will die-out by the September timeframe. Only the newly hatched queen daughters will overwinter to start new colonies in the spring, just like wasps.

I have heard of People that do collect Bumble honey so I assumed it was edible?