Red tailed bumble bee advice

Hello,

Seems to have a colony of red tailed bumblebees living under the floor of an old timber play house. The problem is, it's got to come down because it's about to fall down! Will the new queens move on at the end of the year, or will this likely be a more permanent home? If so, I guess I'm going to have to leave something in place for a while.

Any bee experts?

Many thanks!

 

As far as I understand the males and old queen die but the new one will hibernate. Whether that is in you play house or somewhere else I don't know. Maybe contact the Bumblebee Conservation Trust for more advice.

 

I was interested in this. Google suggests they do re-use nests:
"Nesting biology
Nests are underground and are started in old mammal nests. Populations are large, with between 100 and 300 workers. The life-cycle is long, about 5 or 6 months. The species is remarkable for its use of ‘traditional’ hibernation sites, which are north-facing banks, usually within open woodland. Large numbers of queens use these sites year after year."
From:
Bombus lapidarius | BWARS

 

I don't have red tailed ones nesting, but the white tailed ones I have don't use the same nest, and because I'm rebuilding my shed just now, and they're nesting under it, I did a bit of googling to check the length of time they might be there, so that I can then sort the main bit they're using to go in and out.
The new queen finds a different site, as @On the Levels describes, which is what I'd experienced, as I get them nesting most years somewhere in the garden.

Interesting that the red tailed ones work in a different way. Every day's a school day