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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.
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.