Bumblebee Nests

[Chuckles]

I've found out over the last couple of days that I have two bumblebee nests in the garden. All those lovely bees pollinating and doing what bees do in my garden

One is in a low bit of stone edging on the edge of a border near the veggie raised beds, they must have a nest in the ground I guess. The other is in one of my compost bins, shame really because I wanted to empty it but will leave well alone now.

Apparently a colony only lasts one summer and will have finished by September/October at the latest or even sooner and all of the bees will have gone. They don't swarm or attack like wasps or honey bees and as long as you leave them alone and don;t aggrivate them they won't cause a problem. Guess I'll be emtying the compost bin later in the year then ;D

Wondered if anyone else had any in there garden

[Deleted]

Hi Chuckles

Yes, have one underneath my shed and I constantly see them flying in and out all day. Really glad to have them and feel honoured in a way that they chose my patch to set up home.

DG

[Tig]

Plocket had one a while back ..

gardenworld.proboards103.com/index.cgi?board=chat&action=display&thread=6012

[Plocket]

Yes we had a bee nesting but I haven't seen it going in or out of the bin for a while so I'm not sure what's going on.

[Yakram]

We've got a busy bumblebee nest in a hanging basket which I had lined with woolmoss and put under the wooden seat to fill up with soil in a day or two. When I started to move the basket, (which was on an empty pot all steady and ready for me to fill) there was an annoyed buzzing, so I put it back and now there are several bees flying in and out. Of course we can't use the seat as we would be in their flightpath. We have another nest under some ivy in the island bed which is not in our way.
I find they use old field/wood mouse nests - apparently the queen likes the smell of them. A mouse must have used some of my woolmoss over winter and left its aroma.
They have completely ignored the special bumblebee boxes I bought for them. ;D

[snowowl]

Hi Chuckles yes we have a bumble bee nest in our path that sounds strange but there a grate with a gap at the side and they have been flying in an out for weeks now.
They do pick some odd places to have a nest but we dont disturb them.
They are so cute little things

[Ruthie]

We have a nest in the bed that borders the patio. They don't look big enough to be Bumble bees to me but they are similar, with furry orange bums. They're very busy in and out all day. The hole is mostly covered by plants now and I shan't need to weed round there so they should be safe.

[thecleaninglady]

I think I have a bee's nest in the compost bin
I have seen a lot of bees around the air vents and there is a small pile of fine soil underneath
I haven't opened the lid to look though