Bumble Bee help

[RepBex]

Hello i have been on the site before and i know that this is the place for anything todo with bees so my question is .........

Is it normal i currently have 3 separate bumblebee hives? in my garden one which is orange sholderd white bums in my black compost bin, then right next to it littreally about 3 inches apart i have yellow striped white bums in my Darlic compost bin. i then have another hive? of orange sholder white bums in an old hutch down the side of my garden.

is it normal for them to be so many in one small garden and two so close ?

is there anything i should know about them .... i know they cannot sting

is there any plants i could get to keep them happy ?

Thanks

[mothhawk]

Lucky, lucky you. As you've got THREE different lots, I should think there must be lots of plants in your garden already that they love, but if you want more there is a big list here, plus lots of info about wild bees

[marchogaeth]

So probably, white tailed bb and garden bb. White tails forage from lots of plants. Gardens like deep flowers like foxgloves, clover, dead nettles. Clover (red) is the flower they love. As to why you have so many, your garden and its surrounding area must have looked attractive to the bees in Spring (ie they had a good food supply) and your compost bind and rabbit hutch must have offered underground, dry sites with lots and lots of tunnels with chambers suitable for breeding.

Without checking, I don't think it's safe to assume they don't sting. Male bees don't sting, females do. For most of the year it is male workers that you see but late in the season there are more females around who can sting and sting again if they need to.

[Fluorescent green]

Is it normal i currently have 3 separate bumblebee hives?

Thanks

Not being an expert, just out of interest; when you says 3 hives. Is that with lots of bees inside, I know some bees are solitary. You could just have a quick count

[Verinda]

I have discovered that bumblebees absolutely love cotoneaster flowers, my dads cotoneasters are covered in bumblebees all day long.

[Two_Sheds]

i know they cannot sting

Indeed they can sting, but they prefer not to. I am in the garden every day, with my face and hands inches from the bees, and I've only been stung once in my 40-odd years: when I picked up a dead bee in my hand. It wasn't dead.

[darcyvuqua]

Indeed they can sting, but they prefer not to. I am in the garden every day, with my face and hands inches from the bees, and I've only been stung once in my 40-odd years: when I picked up a dead bee in my hand. It wasn't dead.

My only time was as a kid my uncle layed me down on the grass messing about and there was a bee foraging the ground!!! Wasps however they sting for the hell of it horrible things

[Verinda]

I like wasps, don't like being stung by them of course, but happy to see them buzzing about my garden, there seem to be a lot less wasps than there used to be too.

[Two_Sheds]

I thought you'd like to see the bee boxes at Holt Hall (N.Norfolk). As you can see, fully occupied apart from the empty holes where the baby bee has already flown the nest



They have lots, all within a few feet of each other, and at various heights (mostly at waist height on the raised beds, and at head height attached to the outer walls).

[Norfolk drew]

I am allergic to wasp and bee stings and have a nasty reaction when stung however I still encourage them into my garden and allotment and havent been stung thankfully in ten years , incidently the last time I was stung was when I accidentally tore a wasp nest in half that was under a bale of hay

[lettucegrow!]

I 've just come on here to post that I've found a bumble be nest in my garden and RepBex has too! I'm quite excited about it although it means I can't get at my compost.It's interesting watching them come and go. They seem to have a back and front door, there must be stuff around here they like.
Apparently we are really lucky they've nested in our gardens, RepBex. We should be honoured!

[Bren In Pots]

We've got bumblebees living in an old bird box only downside is that their home is right above the outside tap. never mind though I just give them a wide berth.

[Two_Sheds]

We've got bumblebees... I just give them a wide berth.

You don't need to, they really won't sting you unless you REALLY annoy them

They will give you a warning if you're annoying them: they will fly towards you slowly but repeatedly, to make you back off. They're really very gentle insects, we should encourage people to not be afraid of them

[RepBex]

I also have Manson bees using one of those bee homes i got last year. i only got 4 filled holes last year but they all hatched. this year i have 12 full holes i even got to see them mating

my 3 bumble bee homes are still there and thriving we have had a good think as to why they have chosen my garden and we think its because our lawn mower needed a sharpen in the spring so our lawn got a tad long and it was full of dandelions we are surrounded by conker trees and other flowering trees aswell i think that helped alot. the hutch hive is just outside my bedroom window and i can watch them comings and going without annoying them and there are some huge ones lol

[veggiechicken]

I've just been stung several times on the backs of my hands Luckily I had gloves on but they went right through the fabric. They were very small black bees and there were a lot of them. Very angry too by the buzzing! Probably have a hole around the base of an apple tree, as I was pulling out weeds to clear the path to it.
A couple of them followed me back to the house but I was more concerned about the dogs as bees consider dark, furry things to be bears about to rob their honey and go on the attack. I think they're OK.