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Does anyone know about bumble bees

42 replies

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 16/03/2022 08:23

We have lots of bumble bees all of a sudden. They are massive, and are hanging around the south facing front of the house, droning outside my window as I work.

I love them and they are most welcome to live in our cavity wall if that's what they are planning, but I'm not sure that is what they are doing. I keep finding them sitting on the wall, or on our front door, looking a bit tired. I gave one some honey and I think it must have eaten some, but am not sure whether this is appropriate for bumbles (as opposed to honey bees) or whether they really need my help. Are they just using my house as a massive storage heater?

Any thoughts?

OP posts:
September29th · 17/03/2022 17:43

About feeding bees with sugar water and not honey.
www.bumblebeeconservation.org/bee-faqs/should-i-feed-bumblebees-sugar-water/#:~:text=Nectar%20and%20pollen%20from%20flowers,bumblebee%20honey%20or%20brown%20sugar.

September29th · 17/03/2022 17:44

Sorry, crappy link.

Crinkle77 · 17/03/2022 18:13

Yes we've had loads of massive bumble bees too.

Fernandina · 17/03/2022 18:16

@Papergirl1968

My DM has a nest in her chimney which we've been quoted several thousand pounds to get rid of it - moving, not killing the bees. Apparently not doing anything with cause damage and make the house difficult to sell etc. The bees were quiet over winter but now it is a bit milder she's getting the odd one in the house again, and if you look up at the chimney from outside there are loads swarming around it. They are stripey and look more llike wasps.
They probably are wasps then.
AlphaJura · 17/03/2022 18:38

We had a lot of bumble bees 🐝 last year (they are the big, fat, furry ones). They usually live in holes in the ground. I discovered they were all going in and out of a hollow at the base of a large shrub in our flower bed. They are harmless and don't sting. At the time there were lots of flowers in bloom, so they'd come out, go to flowers and go back again. I did notice that some were massive and some were smaller.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 17/03/2022 19:17

The big, fuzzy ping pong ones are usually Buff Tailed or White Tailed Bumblebee Queens.

If they're up high, they're after nectar from tree blossom, but if they're flying low, they're probably 'quartering' which means looking for a suitable spot to start this year's colony. Dandelions are probably the most important food source (they have nectar for energy and pollen is their protein source) for emerging Queens and the first brood.

Hibernation sites include plant pots and, very specifically, under sheds in old mouse nests.

A bumble colony is around 20-200 bees on average, compared to a honeybee colony of 50,000 odd in midsummer - all but the newly fertilised Queens will die in Autumn, which is why they aren't 'aggressive' - they aren't protecting a massive stock of food for tens of thousands through winter, there's just a tiny honeypot for summer food.

Tiny dark bumbles about the size of your little fingernail are Tree Bumblebees. They're a blow in over the last few years from France but don't have a negative effect upon native ones in the slightest. If you have bumbles living in a bird nesting box, in a compost heap or in a tree (the clue's in the name there), it's going to be Tree Bumbles. They're also quite fond of chimneypots and no absolutely zero damage to either human or house.

Bumbles as a whole pollinate far more species of plant than honeybees because they vary so much in size and shape of or body, face and tongue.

Some have evolved to rob long, narrow flowers of nectar that they can't get into normally by nipping little holes at the base - nectar robbing. And buzz pollination is remarkable - you often hear it around tomato flowers; bumbles hold the flower and vibrate their wings at a frequency that causes the flower to drop pollen. Interestingly enough, it's at a frequency around middle g# for many flowers.

Mason bees don't harm masonry at all, they move stuff (eg, grains of mortar) that's already loose. Builders like saying it'll cost thousands because then they make thousands.

There are also solitary bees that fulfil yet another evolutionary niche. Whilst they are solitary in that they don't form a colony, they do have identical likes amongst their species, which is how you get grass banks over sand that are full of them. They don't sting. Leafcutter bees look amazing and also love using rose petals to make the wraps for their eggs.

There are some flies that mimic bumblebees because they parasitise Bumblebee nests by flicking their eggs in from a distance. Logically enough, they're called Bee Flies.

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust is a great resource and has ID charts of many common bumbles. Before Covid, they did workshops on identifying Bumbles and their habits - if they've started them again, it'll be around now to take advantage of seeing the queens out and about quartering.

They need water - marbles in a dish make it safe for them - and sugar water is the safe way to help a cold and tired bumble, such as one you find in the house of a morning. If they're outside, try and get them onto a patch where there's sunshine. The bigger the bumble, the later it wants to get up in the morning because of the need for warmth - the Early Bee gets its name because it can function in cooler temperatures early in the morning and season.

Other than that, don't kill them, don't use bug spray/insecticides in the garden - ever - they won't hurt you unless you are literally about to squash them - and grow things like Lavender, Daisies, Dandelions, Foxgloves, Borage, and Nasturtiums. Be careful off 'bee friendly' plants in garden centres because they've often been treated with insecticides in the nurseries which then kill the bees they're being sold to help.

Oh, and bumbles are an absolutely vital food source for blue tits as their broods hatch in Spring. That's how you can find a mound of hollowed out bumbles underneath a flowering cherry tree.

Papergirl1968 · 17/03/2022 20:10

Thanks, EvilPea.

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 17/03/2022 20:34

Thanks @NeverDropYourMooncup ,that was really interesting. I'll try to get a better look at ours but they are massive, so not the tree variety. We do get all different varieties in the summer though, including honey bees.

We have huge numbers of bluetits in the flowering cherry trees nearby. I hope they don't eat all my bees.

OP posts:
AffIt · 18/03/2022 00:53

@NeverDropYourMooncup Brilliant post, thank you.

AppleButter · 18/03/2022 01:09

If they are bumblebees, they will be quite large be because these are the queens, coming out of hibernation, looking for a mate and to start a nest for the season. The reason you see so many of them is probably that many have survived the winter, and they all tumble out on the first warm days. Sometimes they get caught out if they dont find enough (non-toxic) nourishment - crocus, snowdrops, cornelian cherry, plum cherry, lungwort, to feed on. So sugar water will help them if they are too weakened to get back to the nest, or caught out by the weather.

Dave Goulson is a bumblebee expert and his books are amazing.

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 18/03/2022 17:08

Here are some of my bees. This is just above the window. They are making an absolute racket - I keep thinking they are indoors. Think they are buff tailed.

Does anyone know about bumble bees
OP posts:
Eddielizzard · 19/03/2022 09:07

They are utterly gorgeous!!

AppleButter · 19/03/2022 09:39

They probably spent the winter in a cavity between the window and wall, or close by , it kept them alive, so well done :)
Very gorgeous indeed.

MrsBertBibby · 19/03/2022 11:14

How lovely, never seen them crowding like that!

They won't be looking for mates, though. Bumble queens mate in the summer after they emerge, then hibernate over winter while the drones and workers die off. These ladies want nectar, a nest site, and then pollen to feed their first larvae. Once their first bunch of workers are up and flying, the queen's stay home to raise more workers, then queens and drones, which emerge in summer to restart the cycle.

Only honeybees overwinter as a whole colony, which is why they make honey to feed over winter, and why honeybees are vital for early spring flowering crops, as in early spring, bumble numbers are low, whilst honey bees (unlike bumbles) recruit their sisters to good forage sources, and stick to one species per forage flight. So if you want your apple orchard well pollinated, a colony of honey bees is your woman.

MrsDThomas · 19/03/2022 11:27

We had bumblebees in our hay shed last summer. My bee keeping friend told be ignore them and they soon go.
And in 2 weeks they went .

If they were wasps that would be different. Im scared of them as I’ve been stung lots.

nonetcurtains · 19/03/2022 12:07

@NeverDropYourMooncup
we have two large clumps of chives in a sunny spot in our back garden, and once in flower they attracts huge numbers of bees all day long. The bees ignore all of the other flowers near by.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 19/03/2022 12:30

[quote nonetcurtains]@NeverDropYourMooncup
we have two large clumps of chives in a sunny spot in our back garden, and once in flower they attracts huge numbers of bees all day long. The bees ignore all of the other flowers near by.[/quote]
Definitely - herbs in general seem to attract them; Thyme, Rosemary, Lavender, Sage, Nepeta (Catnip) - if there's a herb with a white/mauve/purple/blue flower, it's very attractive to bees, as that's likely why it's a colour that they gravitate towards; these light up like beacons under UV light.

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