Bumble bee's
- Thread starter auroborus
- Start date
Lots of dirt. The only ones I have ever found had made huge underground burrows/hives.
I have been a beekeeper for many years, and have removed wild bee's from unwanted places in order to save them.
Including Bumble bees, I never kill them. I capture the whole colony and relocate them. They are highly defensive, I understand you can purchase them from some where in Canada. They are actually are for greenhouses they will pollinate in greenhouses, honeybees won't.
All the ones I have even had have been wild caught most are very small 10-12 adults bees, but one was massive 350+ adult bees.
They are really neat, I will try to find the paper. I had on plans for how to build a nesting space for them, once they have you are able to capture them.
Including Bumble bees, I never kill them. I capture the whole colony and relocate them. They are highly defensive, I understand you can purchase them from some where in Canada. They are actually are for greenhouses they will pollinate in greenhouses, honeybees won't.
All the ones I have even had have been wild caught most are very small 10-12 adults bees, but one was massive 350+ adult bees.
They are really neat, I will try to find the paper. I had on plans for how to build a nesting space for them, once they have you are able to capture them.
awesome, so when i try to get my own colony how should i go about doing that? i know smoke tricks honey bees to drink up there honey and that makes them heavy, but do bumble bees have honey to drink up to slow them down? bumble bees always seem so docile.
No smoke won't work on bumble bees in that manner. No doubt it will give you some cover but will not calm them down. They are as previously mentioned, very defensive, not aggressive.
They will sting and unlike honeybees they don't lose there stingers. So they can sting repeatedly and they are very fast.
When I was 8 years old I found a bumble bees nest in the ground, I messed with them plunging a stick in their hole. Finally one got out I stood still so it would not see me (Which definatly works if you don't move but the bees will test you, it takes nerves of titanium "steel would melt") Any way I was doing good, then I dropped the stick and the bee saw the movement and stung me on the hand. Then stung me 8 more times in the back as I was running away. I finally killed it by falling flat on my back on the last sting.
It was totally my fault, lesson learned the very hard way.
I have to suit up "bee suit" to remove bumble bees. They have long curved stingers kinda like a saber sword. I have to wear two suits with sweat shirt and jeans underneath. They will get you though one suit and occassionally though two without a sweatshirt. I also place a folded wash cloth on the back of my neck since they can potentially sting though the netting of my veil lying on the back of my neck. When collecting the colonies I use whats called a bee vac to suck them all up.
They a fascinating but be very careful where you place your colony if you get one to prevent any accidental stingings. I actually kept that previously mentioned 350+ bee colony in my backyard without incident. The old saying, " Don't bother them and they won't bother you." applies.
Yes they produce honey in much smaller amounts than honeybees. Ounces of honey where as honeybees produce pounds sometimes hundreds of pounds.
They will sting and unlike honeybees they don't lose there stingers. So they can sting repeatedly and they are very fast.
When I was 8 years old I found a bumble bees nest in the ground, I messed with them plunging a stick in their hole. Finally one got out I stood still so it would not see me (Which definatly works if you don't move but the bees will test you, it takes nerves of titanium "steel would melt") Any way I was doing good, then I dropped the stick and the bee saw the movement and stung me on the hand. Then stung me 8 more times in the back as I was running away. I finally killed it by falling flat on my back on the last sting.
It was totally my fault, lesson learned the very hard way.
I have to suit up "bee suit" to remove bumble bees. They have long curved stingers kinda like a saber sword. I have to wear two suits with sweat shirt and jeans underneath. They will get you though one suit and occassionally though two without a sweatshirt. I also place a folded wash cloth on the back of my neck since they can potentially sting though the netting of my veil lying on the back of my neck. When collecting the colonies I use whats called a bee vac to suck them all up.
They a fascinating but be very careful where you place your colony if you get one to prevent any accidental stingings. I actually kept that previously mentioned 350+ bee colony in my backyard without incident. The old saying, " Don't bother them and they won't bother you." applies.
Yes they produce honey in much smaller amounts than honeybees. Ounces of honey where as honeybees produce pounds sometimes hundreds of pounds.
norwalknicole
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2008
- Messages
- 2
Come to my house you can have the "community" living under my porch~I'm sick of them chasing me
!!
I'm trying to get advice on the "Bumble" situation on my porch & surrounding area~They have posts everywhere around my yard, standing guard ready to attack anything that moves, the fat, furry and quite "in your face" bumble bees~they chase me and any other moving thing and it's getting quite annoying~especially to my pizza delivery people~lol. I need help fast~I'm sick of being chased and frankly harrassed by these very threating pest!! I used to love watching them, i've even saved a stranded out in the cold~one & drownding ones, now I can't get them to stop watching me I've been reading eveyrthing I can but lots of blogs conflict each other so I hope I'm in the best place now The yellow dotted forehead ones~erad that they are the males, not sure but they are the Chasers~not sure if they are carpenter though, since they fly under my porch, can't see what they are doing(digging in the dirt, or eating my porch away)~or if they sting or not I read females don't, males do, but then carpenter ones can't sting~needless to say I'm very confused and need help fast:? ~afraid to leave my house
And its to nice of a day to "bee" bugged and bothered by bumbles~lol
And I used to think they where cute until they started harrassing me 24/7!
!! I'm trying to get advice on the "Bumble" situation on my porch & surrounding area~They have posts everywhere around my yard, standing guard ready to attack anything that moves, the fat, furry and quite "in your face" bumble bees~they chase me and any other moving thing and it's getting quite annoying~especially to my pizza delivery people~lol. I need help fast~I'm sick of being chased and frankly harrassed by these very threating pest!! I used to love watching them, i've even saved a stranded out in the cold~one & drownding ones, now I can't get them to stop watching me I've been reading eveyrthing I can but lots of blogs conflict each other so I hope I'm in the best place now The yellow dotted forehead ones~erad that they are the males, not sure but they are the Chasers~not sure if they are carpenter though, since they fly under my porch, can't see what they are doing(digging in the dirt, or eating my porch away)~or if they sting or not I read females don't, males do, but then carpenter ones can't sting~needless to say I'm very confused and need help fast:? ~afraid to leave my house
And its to nice of a day to "bee" bugged and bothered by bumbles~lol
And I used to think they where cute until they started harrassing me 24/7!
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i thought the males cant sting because the stinger is a modified ovapositer. Im not sure if the queen/foundress can sting, ive heard conflicting info on them. probably your best bet is to release a few large mantids, or just use the back door. Then you can invite your enemies over and release your swarm upon them, mwahahaa good luck with your bumbles
good luck with your bumbles- Joined
- Feb 23, 2008
- Messages
- 302
You can buy Mantid sacs at some farm supply store, that would be awesome to get one, hatch it, then release the million babies under your porch.i thought the males cant sting because the stinger is a modified ovapositer. Im not sure if the queen/foundress can sting, ive heard conflicting info on them. probably your best bet is to release a few large mantids, or just use the back door. Then you can invite your enemies over and release your swarm upon them, mwahahaa
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2006
- Messages
- 659
No Hymenoptera males sting, only the females. Carpenters can and will sting but rarely do.