Bumblebee Experiment

Phil Males writes

Last year with over 600 other members of the public I helped a Stirling University researcher into Bumblebee conservation called Gillian Lye by providing her with details and photos of a bumblebee nest in my back garden.  The first picture below show a bee entering the nest, which is under a grit tray.

The second picture shows the queen with central honey store or pot and the workers around her keeping the nest clean and feeding the larvae chambers. The honey is used to keep the nest occupants alive during inclement weather and to enable next year's bees to overwinter. Sorry the photos are fuzzy. It was scary taking photos by lifting the gravel tray as the bees got angry.

This year I have another nest and will be helping again with research into these valuable and important insects and pollinators.  The only evidence is bumble bees coming and going from the hole in the ground. So no nest photos will not be possible this year.

Gillian's research is being continued in 2010 by Stephanie O'Connor using a slightly different approach (see the following link). My nest last year was under a plastic Stewart gravel tray so I could readily get photos of the nest. This year my nest is underground so this will not be possible but I will record the flight frequencies weekly over the summer to provide Stephanie with data on the size and build up of my nest. I thought it was worth spreading the word on this research as other Basinga readers may have bumblebee nests in their garden and might also be minded to help this research. All reporting is quickly done online via your web browser. 

You can also read the Frequently Asked Questions about Bumblebee nests here.