The latter parts of last Winter felt like a long old slog. We had several snowfalls from December through to Match and while I love snow and those half light Winter days, I found myself impatiently waiting for the first signs of Spring. In preparation for when the warmer weather would eventually arrive, I decided to start work on my beehouses and habitats in the garden.
My first project has been a Bumblebee nest box. It’s a bit of an experiment. Last year I was the grateful recipient of a bird box containing a nest of Tree Bumblebees who had taken up residence in my Mother in Law’s garden. Tree Bumblebees, despite what their name suggests, are famously adaptable and will nest just about anywhere they think looks comfortable – one nest was found in an old tumble dryer outlet hose! They seem to love bird nesting boxes –
This has the added benefit that they can easily be moved if they are inconveniently situated.
I’d enjoyed watching the comings and goings from the nest box until the end of the season. When the new Queens emerged and the nest died out, I missed them. I wondered if there was a way that I could encourage them to return to the garden this year, and maybe set up home?
Bumblebee Nest Box Project
You will need :
– A bird box. Mine comes from Wilkinsons – their boxes are good value and I use them as the basis for many of my bee habitats.
– Some garden moss
– Animal fur (optional). Mine was loose fur kindly donated by my cats after I’d combed them.
Firstly choose the site where the nest box will be placed. It needs to be somewhere where the bees won’t be disturbed and the nest box won’t be subject to vibrations. Tree Bumblebees live quite happily alongside humans but on rare occasions they have been known to act defensively if they feel their nest is being threatened. So choose your site carefully – mine is placed on a wall right at the back of a flowerbed, at a height of around 7 feet from the ground.
Double check that the bird box fits securely on it’s fixings, so it is flat against the wall and won’t blow around too much in the wind. This can be a problem in my garden which is a bit of a wind tunnel, and I sometimes have to reshape the holes on the back of the bird box slightly to make sure they fit properly on the nails used to hang it.
Collect your moss – there is no shortage of this in our shady garden after winter. Let it dry out for a few days so it isn’t damp when it goes into the box.
Once your moss is dry, place it and the animal fur if using into the box. We are trying to make it feel like the box has been previously used as a birds nest, which seems to attract bumblebees. Screw the front onto the box and hang, and wait to see if it attracts visitors.
I couldn’t believe it when, just a couple of days after hanging my box I saw a Tree Bumblebee Queen going in and out of it! After a few days of furious activity, it all went quiet again so sadly I think something must have happened to the Queen. I hope that as one Queen found the box and liked it enough to start nesting, others will – so I will be keeping an eager watch for the rest of the season. Who knows, maybe one of last year’s Queens will emerge from hibernation and find it?
Comments