Nacktschnecken omlet Cube

[SarahJo]

We have a HUGE bumble in the garden - has been buzee collecting pollen - and both hind legs are covered in what I assume to be pollen.

 

is why does he try to get into the garage all the time - we have the in there at the moment, and its a stable door - open all day

 

Des he store the pollen in there somewhere - he just seems to Buzzzzzzz about and then come out when we watch

 

Any ideas ???????? Much appreciated

[Olly]

I'd guess that SHE has a nest in there - in a wood pile, for example - and is taking pollen in to feed the brood. It's quite probably not the same bee you're seeing each time, most bumblebees live in colonies. They'll be rearing brood and will be gone in a few weeks. The yellow stuff is pollen, which they carry in little baskets on their hind legs. Bumblebees aren't aggressive and rarely sting.

[SarahJo]

Thanks for the reply - have been out on bumble watch, and she is going over the top of the garage when doors are shut. Will watch the far side, as there are pots/wood stored there and it is nice and dry. They are feasting on apple blossom - I love bumbles

[Guest]

SHE is likely the ONLY one there is, at the present time, so she is likely the queen. There will not be others until she has tended the first few brood (after selecting the nest site and starting to build it all by herself). Once the nest is operational and there are workers to do the chores and collect forage she will no longer do those 'menial' tasks herself and will stay in the nest, as the egg layer, and be serviced by her offspring.

 

RAB

[Old Speckled Hen]

I agree with RAB. What you are seeing is the queen.

Egg to adult bumble is anything from 4-5 weeks depending on species; longer than the honeybee. So there won't be any daughters yet. In a new nest the workers begin to forage after four or five days but in an older more established one they will stay for a week or so tending the brood allowing the queen to lay eggs and not go out. A really successful colony can have 350 workers.

Male bees are produced in late summer/early autumn a week or so before new queens. After mating the nest will die out and the new queens will return to the nest to shelter at night but not lay any eggs. The next generation hibernates till next spring when it all starts again. In some circumstances a couple of our species can go through two life cycles in one year with the new queens establishing their own nests.

They are absolutely wonderful. I caught an enormous B terrestris in the conservatory yesterday.

Did you know that there are also Cuckoo bumbles who lay their eggs in established nests and leave them to be looked after by the host colony?

 

Edited for sentence construction

Edited April 11, 2011 by Guest

[Guest]

OSH,

 

Thanks for the extra information. I'm a bit of a generalist really. I have Ted Benton's 'Bumblebees' on the shelf, but, frankly, found it heavy going! A tome and a half, at least, in a single cover!

 

I once inadvertently rotavated a new bumbly nest. Didn't realise until she came back looking for the non-existant entrance. She 'buzzed' me for several days after that while I was working in that area of the garden.

 

I do, of course have plenty of possible sites for them in the garden, but they seem to prefer the upturned plant pots over the nesting boxes I put out. I will have to get some used gerbil bedding from the local pet store and try that in the boxes!

 

Regards, RAB

[Daphne]

Yesterday I dug a bumble out of a compost heap I think she had just gone in there whilst I was dismantling the heap, at least I hope so. That brings my compost wildlife tally this week up to rat and babies (despatched), slow worms x 2 (saved and hidden again) ants nest (boiling watered), and now a bee (I have 8 bins). I also watched a bumble venture out from a pile of leaf litter one sunny day in winter, have a fly about and a bask, and then go back, that was quite special

[Old Speckled Hen]

Yes, compost bins are a favourite. I have four bins and make sure any compost is removed before the end of February and not touched again till the autumn. One year we had stacked up some turf roughly and found a nest in there so the lawn had to wait. I have watched bumbles investigating the myriad mouse holes we have in the garden so getting used mouse/gerbil bedding to bait a home made box is a good idea. We have a B. lucorum, that's a white tailed bumble, nesting in one of our Blue Tit boxes. We took the camera out this winter as we have the house for sale and now I'm kicking myself for not leaving it in............Grrrrrrrrrr

PS a good source of information is BBCT at http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk/

If you join for £12 a year, amongst other things, you get a really good identification poster and a leaflet about gardening for bumbles.