Post by reed on Oct 10, 2018 8:59:11 GMT -5
Bumblebees are indispensable residents of my garden. Except maybe for fruit trees they are far more valuable pollinators than honey bees. I want them to live nearby but to cut down on unfortunate accidental confrontations such as almost happened both this year and last I want to build them some houses to make them happy and so I know where they are. We already have plenty and a wide variety of food plants so just need living accommodations.
There is conflicting info about his topic on the web. There are sources to buy houses but other information says they don't work. Yet, there are videos showing inside the nests and say that the nests are artificial. Unfortunately the obviously successful ones didn't give dimensions or specifications of the houses.
Several sources say they like a little soft nesting material to start building on and that they have evolved to be attracted to the odor of mouse urine. That actually makes sense cause in recent years I have located three nests, one in an old boot in the shed, one in the bottom of an old stuffed chair in the shed and one in a garbage can full of old dried gourds in the green house. All of these locations easily could have and likely were previously occupied by mice.
I certainly won't be buying some overpriced over-hyped little box but am going to build a variety of versions myself to see if I can get them to move in. Most info I find says they live in the ground and you should bury the nests but none of the three I'v seen were in the ground. I got plenty of smelly mouse material in a drawer in an old chest in the shed so I can use that. I'll make two or three under clay flower pots on the ground and some more, probably of wood, higher up and see how it turns out. I'll report details of any that are successful.
Some info I found says you can actually capture queens and place them in an appropriate nest. Even go so far as capturing them in the fall and keeping them in a little pillow stuffing in a vented container in the fridge. I would be afraid of screwing up and killing them so I probably won't do that.
Has any one here successfully attracted bumblebees to an artificial nest??
There is conflicting info about his topic on the web. There are sources to buy houses but other information says they don't work. Yet, there are videos showing inside the nests and say that the nests are artificial. Unfortunately the obviously successful ones didn't give dimensions or specifications of the houses.
Several sources say they like a little soft nesting material to start building on and that they have evolved to be attracted to the odor of mouse urine. That actually makes sense cause in recent years I have located three nests, one in an old boot in the shed, one in the bottom of an old stuffed chair in the shed and one in a garbage can full of old dried gourds in the green house. All of these locations easily could have and likely were previously occupied by mice.
I certainly won't be buying some overpriced over-hyped little box but am going to build a variety of versions myself to see if I can get them to move in. Most info I find says they live in the ground and you should bury the nests but none of the three I'v seen were in the ground. I got plenty of smelly mouse material in a drawer in an old chest in the shed so I can use that. I'll make two or three under clay flower pots on the ground and some more, probably of wood, higher up and see how it turns out. I'll report details of any that are successful.
Some info I found says you can actually capture queens and place them in an appropriate nest. Even go so far as capturing them in the fall and keeping them in a little pillow stuffing in a vented container in the fridge. I would be afraid of screwing up and killing them so I probably won't do that.
Has any one here successfully attracted bumblebees to an artificial nest??
