Bumblebees in Hedgehog House

I set up a new feeding station for birds yesterday evening and went out this morning to set the camera up. I noticed several bumblebees coming in and out of a vacant hedgehog house. With it being breeding season, I'm concerned that a hedgehog looking for somewhere to nest will stumble upon it. Would it be OK to partially block the entrance to the hedgehog house so that bees still have access but hedgehogs can't get in?

 

I've heard in the past that hedgehogs eat bees and wasps as they aren't effected by the stings. If that is your worry then you can leave nature to it but if you are concerned about the bees then you could partially block the door. Bumble bees use their sight to find their way home but also their sense of smell, so provided it's not a dramatic change they should be fine.

 

It's true that hedgehogs will attempt to eat bees and wasps, as @Thevictorian says. The stings don't seem to cause them any problems.
I agree that just partially blocking the entrance should do the trick, if you're sure there's no spiky resident in place already.
Hedgehogs don't tend to use the same residence every night, so I'm sure your visitors will find somewhere else nearby to use .

 

@Thevictorian @AnniD My concern was more for any potential hoglets than anything else. I have taken a sneaky peak and there's lots of cobwebs in the entrance tunnel so definitely no resident! I haven't checked the other house yet but I'm fairly certain there's no resident there either.

I don't know what's happened to the hedgehogs round here. I haven't seen one in my garden since last June. I had two who were staying in one of my hedgehog houses and one of them was being a right bully. Why he just didn't use the other house I don't know. Same with the feeding stations. I had two of them and he would always want to eat in the one the other hedgehog was eating in. I think in the end the hedgehog who was being harassed just had enough and moved on. It seems the bullying one also moved on the night after I kept putting food out but the only thing eating it was a mouse. I gave up come November time as there were still no hedgehogs showing up on any of my three cameras. It was at that time that our cat started having health problems and everything else just slipped my mind. I should have sorted out the hedgehog houses and feeding stations sooner but everything has been awful of late and I've really had to push myself when it comes to the garden.

 

They have a tendency to come and go @Februarysgirl. I haven't seen one in my garden (I have a trailcam) for several weeks.
I have only put food out for a week so far this year as l saw a hog on camera one night. Needless to say it didn't return, and like you I had a mouse that filled its stomach for the entire week.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having a tough time of it, rest assured that if there are hedgehogs around I'm sure they're finding food from somewhere. Plenty of worms and slugs around with all this wet weather .

 

Take care of yourself @Februarysgirl . That's more important.
The hogs will do the same, regardless of what you do.
I get wasps and/or bees using the hog house far more often than any hedgehog comes in to use it. There are too many other sites for them, so it's a bit of a bonus if they come in here at any point. The wasps had a lovely nest in it last year.

 

@AnniD Sometimes they'd go for a few weeks but it's almost been a year now. I know that neighbours either side have had to block holes in the fences due to new puppies but there's still other holes in and out of my garden.

@fairygirl I think the thing with having hedgehogs in the garden is that it's difficult not to get emotionally invested in them. I've had to take several to a rescue/vet and not all of them have come back and I don't know if I have that in me at the moment. I do miss the excitement of checking the overnight footage in the morning and laughing at their antics. I know they're good for the garden, but I hate wasps. I love a friendly bumblebee but wasps are just mean.

 

I support my local hedgehog rescue @Februarysgirl ,and some of the stories on their Facebook page are just heartbreaking. I have such admiration for the hard work they put in.
I know what you mean about checking the footage every day, the anticipation and then the disappointment if they don't show. I do see a fox most nights, but it's not the same.

 

Unfortunately, wasps get a bad press, even thought they're just as valuable as bees, and quite fascinating.
I love watching them drink from the pond shallows, and harvest wood from fences and timber edging.

 

@AnniD My local hedgehog rescue went above and beyond in trying to save the last one I took. Gutted that he didn't make it but relieved he lived his last couple months warm and taken care of rather than out in the cold winter with a serious injury.

@fairygirl I hate the way they hover around you and won't leave. I had a pretty nasty experience when I was a kid. I was eating some sugar coated sweets which a wasp took a liking to and being much too young to know better, I started waving it away. Damned thing stung me, right beside my eye. I just remember howling my head off.