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What to do with a bumble bee nest?

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  • #1

    What to do with a bumble bee nest?

    Hi some bumblebees have taken over my compost bin this summer in my garden. I have a very small garden and am now just joining with some friends in owning an allotment and wanted to move the compost bin down to it.

    Obviously now I don't want to disturb the bees but I'm wanting to know if they'll ever leave or when the best time to move it would be?

    I'm assuming they'll be no threat to my 3 children when they are outside. Do bee keepers come and move bumble bees? My parents recently had a massive swarm of honey bees do the same thing in their garden but there were thousands of them and a local bee keeper came to take them.

    Any help anyone can offer would be greatfly received. Thanks
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  • #2
    We had one for a fortnight and it disappeared the day after we got rid of a load of hawthorn in the incinerator. Now behind the shed so out of harms way.

    I'd get a new compost bin at the lottie; and hopefully they will go at some point.

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    • #3
      Wild bumblebee nests seem to only last about 6 to 8 weeks before they produce new queens and are abandoned or (this year) they are destroyed by wax moth!

      I'd leave them to get on with their lives and move the compost to the lottie at the end of the summer.

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      • #4
        They aren't a bother to you, if you don't antagonise them. Bumbles rarely sting and they don't swarm. All the bees will die this year except the queen - you can then move your compost bin in the autumn

        We've got a nest in a bird box at school, it's lovely for the children to sit and watch the bees coming & going
        All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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        • #5
          Hi thanks for your comments. We are now going to watch the nest for a bumble bee survey so can get the kids involved in watching them. Thanks.

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          • #6
            They're lovely aren't they? I've been weeding & planting round our nest, they aren't bothered by me at all. I'll put up a video if I remember.

            One worry: a dead bee & a bee larva appeared at the mouth of the nest the other day ... I hope a cuckoo bee didn't get in there (but then bees are bees and all are good I suppose)
            All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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            • #7
              We had one in the log pile last year, lovely things to watch. Really thick though, if they come into the house they can't find their way out again
              WPC F Hobbit, Shire police

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              • #8
                I had a bumble bee in the garage - kept flying into the window and couldn't get out! I tried opening the window ... it still couldn't get out. So decided to capture it in a pot and let it out. Could not believe the volume of 'buzz' when it was inside the flower pot ... anyway it was returned to the wild. Didn't even say Ta!

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