Well At Least Something Is Using Our Bird Box!

...for the 3rd year running we have bees nesting in one of bird boxes, strange thing is out of 7 boxes its the same one each time??!!

No birds maybe but I'm more than happy for these little guys to set up home, they need all the help they can get

 

How luvvly. Any idea which type of bee?
Jenny

 

Carefull, you'll have Spruce round

 

Not yet Jenny, just been observing from a distance, still a little shy I suspect

 

How many bees are using the box Bilbo? It'll only take you all day to observe and monitor....

 

Not many at the moment, but from watching them over the last couple of years, the numbers increase week by week...

 

I think that's wonderful, Bilbo!

 

An update on the bees, I have been watching them again over the last few days and the activity has increased with the improving weather. There are different sized bees using the box and I think they are possibly Early Bumblebees, I will try and get a clearer view for a better ID

 

Well after a very active day for the bees, I got a much clearer view and am now almost certain they are Tree Bumblebees

"Tree bumblebee Bombus hypnorum
Queens, workers and males all have a black head, brown-ginger thorax, black abdomen with a white tail. The proportion of white on the tail does vary significantly but is always present. This species was first found in the UK in 2001, but is now found throughout most of England and Wales. It prefers to nest above ground, often inhabiting bird boxes"

 

Thank you for that wonderful update Bilbo. Spruce will be so chuffed as well,
Jenny

 

The bees have been very active today, several flying round the nestbox at a time and interestingly there is quite often one just sat in the entrance hole as if its keeping guard whilst others enter and exit past it??, Is this what it's doing??

 

Update.....over the last 2 days what I assume is the queen as its much larger than the others has been in and out of the box and there has been an increased number of the others flying around and near the box. There also seems to be the beginning of squabbling between some of the bees, behaviour that was explained on Springwatch recently , fascinating to watch

 

Another update.....the nest is still very active and the garden is full of bees of several species, even on dull and damp days. I have been watching these leaving the nest, working the nearest flowers and then returning and also some very interesting behaviour where two or three smaller bees have seemingly been grappling with what I presume is a queen and rolling around on the floor below the box!!!

These Tree Bumblebees seem to be doing really well in this area of the Country at the moment, a local nature reserve has a webcam set up on their website watching a nest of them and father-in-law has two of his nest boxes occupied by the same species and he lives a few streets away from us

 

Here's our little friends out basking in the sun today

 

Brilliant Bilbo..