Bumble Bees... Open-front platform nest... "intended" for Robins and Doves.

[Random User]

A couple of years ago, I made two open-fronted platform nesting boxes to try and encourage the Robins (and possibly Doves) to nest in them instead of the fruit trees that typically whip in the Prairie winds and dislodge the nest mid-season; leaving baby birds scattered about the yard.

I have yet to see a robin or a dove even investigating them as a possible nesting site, but have had a great degree of success encouraging bumble bees to use them.

A short back-track;

After making a "squat" design from materials that I had laying about (3/4" wood planks), I made sure there was good drainage on the lower platform so no water could accumulate under the potential nest. I think the "squat" part of my design is the biggest deterrent for robins in particular, and am going to build open platforms this year. I screwed one to the side of the garage under the eaves (so 2.3 ish meters) above ground facing south, and the other just over 2 meters above ground on the post of a arbour type structure I made, facing north. The floor dimensions of the boxes are roughly the same at about 20cm x 30cm (it doesn't really matter, IMHO). The sides of the boxes are mostly open, due to cresent-shaped cut outs that I made in the side panels, thinking that the robins would prefer this. The second platform that I described above, is covered heavily by grape vines, which gives added protection from the winds and driving rain.

So, the spring after installing the platforms (and being disappointed by not having them being used), I went to investigate what I might do to make them more appealing. I had taken a handful of dryer lint and thrown it into each box for nesting material thinking that the robins would just throw it out if they didn't want to use it, and when I reached up to remove it, I felt what I'd describe as (dry) "Cap'n Crunch" type nuggets mixed in the lint about 12-14 mm in diameter. This, I discovered was the remnants of a bumble bee nest, and after cleaning the north facing one out, I went and checked the south facing one... sure enough it had been used as well.

I have yet to check the platforms from this past growing season, but am quite confident that they have been used again. (I save some dryer lint each year for the bumble bees... mostly wool based lint from drying wool-work-socks.... either they like the smell of my feet or fabric softener.)

So, all that to say, if you want to try and attract bumble bees to your yard, you might try a similar nesting device. HOWEVER, most bumble bees nest close to the ground, or in a hole in the ground... this year I'm going to make a ground nest for them in a out-of-the-way portion of the garden using an old terra cotta pot, tubing, and flat stones. (You'll find drawings on the Net if you're curious) I think the "pot-in-the-ground" would result in the higher success rate (in most areas), but it's hard to argue with the results that I've had in the platforms... but, different regions have different bee species.

The nests are about the size of a large man's fist, so even screwing a coffee can sideways on a post might do the trick (with drainage holes and dryer lint of course)

Note: Bumble bees use the nests each season and only the "new" queens over-winter (males and old queens die off in the fall), but they do this in the ground. So, I could clean out the platforms each fall, but most often forget about them until this time of year, when I get eager for projects waiting for spring, and, I tend to think that leaving the old nesting materials intact till spring might leave a residue (smell) that the queens like when they are searching for a nesting site after waking up in the spring.

If you try this please let me know if it works for you... It would be interesting to see how effective this might be across North America; it seems to work well here.

 

[Starfox]

That is pretty cool, I'd take bumble bees any day. If I tried that here all I would get would be wasps. Can you take pictures of it once it's set up, it would be great to visualise it.
Also if the plan is to attract bees it may be worth checking if you are using any neonicotinoids on your trees as it could kill them off unsuspectingly.

 

[AJL]

This is good work - bumble bees need our help as they're being decimated by introduced diseases ,habitat destruction,loss of nectar plants and indiscriminate of pesticides(including neonicotinoids).
Bumble bees are not aggressive and are valuable pollinators in our orchards farms and gardens
You can also help ground-nesting bumble bees to build a nest by digging a hole and burying a terracotta/clay pot upside down in the ground, leaving just the base of the pot exposed at ground level
The bees then use the large central drainage hole as an entrance and build their nest inside the pot. You can make it more attractive to them by adding a little dry hay or straw inside to start with.
Its much easier than building a nesting box and a good use of old discarded clay flower pots !!

 

[jacob letoile]

They use nest boxes like the one described here.

https://extension.psu.edu/orchard-pollination-solitary-mason-bees

In Apple orchirds around me.

 

[Random User]

Starfox;

Google "open fronted nesting platform" and take a look at the images... I don't think that any one would be any better than another. The odd thing I found about mine was that they were so high off of the ground. Going on a WAG, I'd say that it is a species that is "less common" to this area, because I've seen more than a few bumble bee nesting holes in my life. And, I guess another odd thing was that even though I've seen bumble bee nesting holes, I can't recall seeing them nest above ground as some people report them to do... but given that for the first 25 years of my life the only time I looked down was to see if my shoe was tied or look at what I'd stepped in, so this is not a surprise. My lack of observation and knowledge would never have led me to discover something as obvious as a bumble bees nest. The dryer lint seems to be quite an attractant for them, and after my post last night I also remembered that I had a ball of knitting yarn kicking around the house that I'd never use, so I cut it sideways (like a loaf of bread) in 3 or 4 chunks and tossed that in the boxes as well... but I only did that the first year and the results have been the same since.

Another BIG attractant for the bees are the three trees "just outside their front door"... I have an ornamental apple tree, a wild plum, and a crab apple that produce extremely well (full sized trees). Last year, there were so many bees on those trees at any given time, I could hear them buzzing when the doors in the house were all closed. If I had to guess I'd say there was 30,000 bees in the yard at the height of the day during tree flowering season... and many species that I had never seen before... I'm going to have to pay closer attention this year, but I am dangerously allergic to bees and wasps, so my curiosity only motivates me to a certain point.

The largest potential crop that would use neonicotinoids around this area is canola or rapeseed farmers, and those producers are more than aware that it is the bees that pollinate their crops, so they are taking steps to protect the bees. The community as a whole is anti chemical, and living in town adds another buffer zone.

Jacob;

There are many many mason bees here, most likely due to the canola and rapeseed crops, so they really aren't a big concern in this part of the world. They are however a fascinating little bee. I remember seeing a documentary on them and was shocked at how much more productive and effective they are than honey bees at pollinating crops. They are one bee that I will readily pick up and fiddle with, because unless you squish them, they don't tend to sting. There are also many many leaf cutter bees in this area, which are probably even more efficient than mason bees at pollinating crops. I don't often fiddle with them, because they like to scrape the oils and salts from my hands and seem to take the top layer of skin along with it. A few minutes after they fly off, I'll have these ichy-red tracks across my skin where the little bees chewed my hide, but it disappears within a couple of hours. I've made nests for them out of bundled (hollow) reed grasses, but they don't seem to like the man-made stuff. Honestly, there are so many places that either bee species can make a nest, moving into something man-made is probably a step down in the socio/economic order for them.

Anyway, I'm all bee'd out... have a great day!

 

[GailC]

I love bumblers, they are the only bee that won't send me running (allergies) as I know they are docile. I looked into the flower pot type nests last year but it was too late in the season, I'll have to get a couple buried as soon as the ground thaws. I'll try a open platform too, just to give them options.

I had a tree they really liked until my hubby ran it over wth the atv and snapped it off at the ground. Luckily the roots are still there and you can't kill idaho locust without fire or poison so it'll come back. If I'm really lucky, the little sucker that came up a couple years ago will be big enough to at least give me a clump or two of flowers. I want seeds so I can plant them all over, teach DH to kill my trees

 

[Random User]

If I had the intention of making one for "just off" the ground, I'd go with 1/2 the floor plan that I used... a coffee can or tomato juice can might be just the ticket for someone who is either really conservative with their ambition, or is short on time to get something set up for the bumble bee season.

 

[jacob letoile]

Skbonsaiguy, I remember a pollinator talk I went to that shared an interesting research result they had, they looked specifically at sunflowers and found that the majority of pollination occurred via honey bees, but that the seed set was significantly better if there were native bees present. The competition from the native bees spurred the honey bees to visit more flower heads instead of staying on one the whole time.

 

[Random User]

Skbonsaiguy, I remember a pollinator talk I went to that shared an interesting research result they had, they looked specifically at sunflowers and found that the majority of pollination occurred via honey bees, but that the seed set was significantly better if there were native bees present. The competition from the native bees spurred the honey bees to visit more flower heads instead of staying on one the whole time.

They are such an interesting creature, and I doubt that science would ever figure out all of their mysteries...

 

[Random User]

So me, being the tight arse I am, I'm always on the look-out for something I can savage, to reuse or repurpose. Last year at some point, I found a commercialially made wooden box that was used for shipping bearings (I think)... I don't know for sure, but there was a sticker on it that had a lot of Japanese script, and given the business that it was from, I tend to think this is accurate. (Around here, businesses put out all manner of shipping crates and pallets for the public to pick up instead of paying the tipping fees at the dump. Rarely do they last more than a week before the entire pile is picked up, mostly for ready firewood at the local cottages. I've found a lot of high grade wood in these piles and they are what I'd like to think of as the local lumber-mart Salvation Army. )

Anyway, it is 30cm square and I took it thinking that I could re-use it for something at some point. So last night I rummaged around in my shed and found a set of 3" hinges and a hasp. Because the box is a little large (tall in particular) I will cut a piece of glass to fit inside the box about mid way, with the intention of installing a ultraviolet light source and my GoPro.

I'll drill an entry hole 5/8" and 4 ventilation holes the same size, on the upper sides of each side panel ... cover the ventilation holes with hardware cloth, stapled in place. I'll also fashion a door of some sort to lock the bees in while I mess around with the camera and light. Bumble bees are not a creature that I want to mess with, so locking them up for a few minutes won't do them any harm... and it will be a GREAT benefit to me.

I'll hrow in a bundle of wool-lint inside, and place the box near the base of a hedgerow, in a shaded area of the garden (where I once found an active underground bumble bees nest).

If anyone intends on making something similar, remember that they have to be placed much earlier than you'd think. The overwintered queens become active when the weather warms, but there is still snow on the ground. If you've ever seen one zig-zagging 6" or 15 cm over the ground at a rapid pace, it would indicate that that bee was searching for a nesting site.

I should mention though, that the success rate to have bees use a man-made structure isn't really high... it could go unused for a number of years, if it is ever used at all.

Good luck to those who try though!

 

[Random User]

So just as a matter of record (because I'm so forgetful with what I do) I thought I'd record the changes to my "plan" with the bee box. I used a 3/4" bit for the entry hole and for the four ventilation holes.

I placed the vent holes mid-way up the box at the plane where the upper section is blocked off. For some reason, I have never been a good glass cutter, so I decided to go with the heat shrink plastic barrier that is sold for winterizing windows in homes. I just hope I don't get a surprise the first time that I open the box and find out that the bumble bees removed all of the plastic. I shrunk the plastic over a frame that fits loosely inside the box. This frame is supported by a sub-frame that is screwed directly to the sides of the box itself. That way, any changes that I want to make down the road will simply require removing the loose frame and to make the change(s).

I'll mount an empty GoPro case inside the box so the bees are used to seeing it right from the start... and IF I manage to get some tenants, it will be a simple matter of swapping the empty case for one that houses the GoPro. I also have a spare microphone that I will leave in the box for the same reason.

I placed three wads of wool-lint in the box and will place it after this blizzard that we are currently experiencing passes.

I did cover the vent holes with 150 grit wallpaper sanding mesh instead of using screen. (for added durability)

If something goes wrong and my experiment kills me, the first one to my house can have the GoPro to sell on eBay, it should at least fetch $150.00 CDN... BUT, I'd wait till after a good hard freeze to retrieve it!