Odd Thing Part 2

Edg3

originally put this else where on the forums and was told, here might get me a better result.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=65560450#post65560450

Noticed this in the garden today and took some pictures.
Took this one for a size comparison




Wasnt sure what it was as we had never seen it before, but we assumed it was a bumble bee but i'd never imagined that they did this.

Sid_Justice

Looks like you have a bumble bee (Bombus pascuorum or Bombus muscorum probably) nest/hive in your garden. I wouldn't worry about it, they almost never sting humans and are great pollinators for garden plants.

Alun

Yes, bumble bees build their nests in holes underground. I've never seen a photo of one peeking out of their hole like that though, well done capturing it!

Morganna

Great pic.

fryup

is it possible to buy bumble bee boxes in DIY stores,

would it benefit my garden??.....do they provide honey??

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

fryup wrote: »

is it possible to buy bumble bee boxes in DIY stores,

would it benefit my garden??.....do they provide honey??

Maybe not DIY Stores but there are plenty of Bee Boxes available. Try on-line with any Nature Groups or suppliers.

Bumble Bees will not provide you with honey (You need a hive of Honey Bees for that!) but are great for pollenating your garden.

fryup

Sylas Hallowed Pimple wrote: »

Bumble Bees will not provide you with honey (You need a hive of Honey Bees for that!) but are great for pollenating your garden.

will they kill other pests like wasps do??

Sid_Justice

fryup wrote: »

will they kill other pests like wasps do??

No. The primary use of bumblebees as a commodity is pollination. This is a seriously important task, arguably one of the most important thing any animal does for human service.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left."
Incorrectly attributed to Albert Einstein but this does not take from the importance of the statement.

Edg3

not sure what happened the picture but reposting it here



thanks for that guys, we just werent sure what it was. noticed they closed up the hole when it started raining the other day to.

Valmont

I'm jealous. I love watching bumble bees flying from flower to flower; it always amazes me how their little wings can keep them up for so long. I have a big blossom tree that they like so I'll make do with that.

Edg3

we always had bumble bees down around here but its the first time i've personally seen a nest.

fryup

Sylas Hallowed Pimple wrote: »

"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left."

but how about fruit flies & hover flies?? they help in pollination don't they??

btw do wasps pollinate in any way?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Fruit Fly adults feed on decaying fruit and other decaying food matter. Wasps eat aphids early in the year and fruits later.

Hover Flys do feed on nectar and pollen and pollenate to a small degree, but nothing like Bees.

Other insects pollenate as well, e.g. Moths, but the vast majority of pollenation is carried out by Bees.

Edg3

new development, went out today to cut the grass, was prepared to avoid the nest and as i was doing on last check i noticed something spectacular, about 40 foot from the "original" entrance i found up to 20 more entrances in the grass with a high concentration around a small hill of moss.

I'm wondering if these are part of another colony or all joined to the same.




if you cant make it out the top circle is the original, the 3 directly below are between 1-3 entrances and the large one on the right is a large 10-15 concentration.

Sid_Justice

You look like you've a nice garden. I know cutting the grass is an enjoyable task and something you have to do to keep the garden neat and nice looking but too much mowing does badly interfere with bees. Fair play trying to avoid the nests.

Bumble bee nests are really quite small. They're not a subterranean labyrinth like certain ant or termite colonies. Thus, if you see 5/6 separate entrances they're either 5/6 different nests or maybe you're just seeing some workers investigating some holes.

I'm open to correction. I've heard of people with much much smaller gardens than you having multiple colonies but I'd assume they'd prefer to spread them out.

Edg3

well they got lucky today, as it started to rain just before the mower got near them. we're living on about 3/4 of an acre so i'm sure we could relocate them if we were careful. They seem to have chosen close along the path for some reason, maybe since along there used to be a large portion of sand/soil.

I was wondering if it was a large colony, but as you say its probably several investigated.

I must admit i'm amazed by this, i never knew bees nested underground, and i always thought the colony was more above ground then below. Its very interesting altogether. We've marked the areas we've found, to avoid them being trampled by people who dont know about it or forgetful mowers

The largest cluster was around a small hill of moss, we figured the softer ground made it easier for them to dig.

Assuming we could somehow move them we've a rather large and mostly undisturbed area at the rear of the house where we used to have a nest several years back before it was landscaped.

Its quite fascinating to see all these little holes dug by something no bigger then a thimble

Sid_Justice

No you can't move them (not exactly). well it would be very difficult to. The heart and soul of the bumble bee nest is the Queen. She is the largest bee in the nest and she lays all the eggs. These eggs hatch out as workers (females that don't reproduce(drones)). These workers collect pollen and nectar and housekeep within the nest. Digging the nest out with most likely kill all the developing eggs (they got through a larval stage) and destroy the small amount of honey the workers have created. If mowing/moving hasn't killed the queen, she will relocate and attempt to build a new nest.

If I you want to be as ecologically conscientious as possible you could avoid mowing the area were the the colonies are. Mow around them so to speak. The queen will die by the end of the summer and the nest will be abandoned so you'll have your full lawn back then

Edg3

ah i get what you mean now. so basically just try and avoid it as much as possible. we really dont wanna disturb it, my mum always regretted destroying the other nest in the back garden before. (accidentally of course, bulldozer destroyed it before we knew what it was)
So i'd say they'll be kept safe this time. It'll be interesting to see them as they come out, when abouts should we expect to see them emerging from the nests?

Sid_Justice

I'd expect the nest to be building up fairly steadily now so should see them buzzing in and out now.

Edg3

have only seen one bumble bee so far in the entire garden, and we have alot of flowers and i've been out with the camera snapping pictures, testing lenses most days and not seen a single one and most spring/summers you couldnt step outside the front door without hearing the hum.

Sid_Justice

Oh Ok, I've reread the thread I think we may be misunderstanding each other.

In the original photo, I assumed this was an entrance to a bumblebee nest. If it is a nest, there should be workers zooming in and out of it every few seconds or at least minutes. The little mound of moss/sand is not indicative on its own of a nest. Bumblebees don't build complex nests out of paper etc. like wasps or wax like honey bees. Bumblebees, depending on the species, just find holes in trees or in the ground and just build away.

So in actual fact, there may not be a nest in the photographs, just an example of a bee looking around for a place to build a nest. The picture with the red circles, I assumed these were examples of places you thought might be bumble bee nests due to the abundance of bees rather than the presence of this sand.

Edg3

i think it was more my bad explanation of the mound its a natural mound, been there for years but its covered in moss and is very soft
so they didnt make it
all the holes are entrances but seem in active however we did see a bee in them one day but they dont seem all that busy. My father has been keeping an eye on them (his walk and smoke passes them on the path) and i dont think he's noticed any major activity.

As for the old one in the back garden it was another natural mound with what we bought at the time was marks from birds picking worms etc out of the soil but now these new holes remind us of those exactly. So we figure thats what it was in the back garden back then to.

fryup

do bumble bees sting? and do they die like a honey bee whilst doing so?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

fryup wrote: »

do bumble bees sting? and do they die like a honey bee whilst doing so?

No offence fryup but you're taking the Michael at this stage. So many basic questions. I suggest you do a quick google on Bumble Bees and a single page should give answerrs to all your questions.
Here's one to get you started (25 seconds to search, open and copy link).

http://www.bumblebee.org/

I don't mind answering questions - in fact I rather enjoy it - but there are times when you'll learn more by looking it up for yourself.

Sid_Justice

The sting in Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, ants etc.) is a modification of the ovipositor, an organ to lay eggs. Thus, only females can sting. In the Honey Bee, the sting is barbed, like a little hook. So when it stings it attaches itself to the intruder and damages it on removal. However in the case of humans and presumably most mammals, the skin is 'rubbery', the barb gets stuff and attempts by the Honey bee to detach itself often causes it to rip part of it's lower body off! This is why Honey Bees die after stinging. At least, as far as I know.

Bumble bee stings on the other hand are not barbed and can do not get caught in human skin. Thus they can potentially sting multiple times. I'd imagine the stings of such insects have evolved as defenses against other insects intruding the nest/colony. To the best of my knowledge, the mammals that prey on such insects/honey have either such stuff skin or coating or hair they are not bothered by the stings (e.g. bears, ant eaters).

Bumble bees are a lot less territorial than honey bees and will not 'attack' something that comes in the general vicinity of the nest. If you put your hand inside or attempt to handle them, most likely they will sting you. I don't know much about the toxins in the bee/wasp venom. For most people, getting stung is very irritable. It's painful, your heart rate increases, you can feel a little nauseous and weak. It is usually a surprise. However, after 15 minutes of sitting down in a nice quiet place you'll be fine.

However, some people, no idea about the percentages but enough that it's something everyone should be aware of, are allergic to insect venom and stings cause anaphylaxis. This is basically where you get stung once, your body develops a very strong reaction to it as a defence mechanism gone a bit mad. When you get stung again, the bodies reaction is extreme and you may need hospital treatment.

I worked with bumble bees on research projects for a good few months and got stung about 10 times, so obviously I didn't want to be stung cause it's not pleasant but I was also worried about developing anaphylaxis.