Don't call us, we'll call on you

BCW caught one redtail today - it took quite a while and the bees certainly seem to be out later as the days get longer and warmer. She was caught at about 4 o'clock after quite a lot of searching. The nest-searchers were not in the usual place today but have moved a little up the road (closer to our home, which is handy!). Whether this says something about availability of sites, we don't know. 


What we are seeing more and more of every day is "fly bees": little bee-like creatures that hover and dart and fly round with their tongues out. They are pretty funny. We didn't really know they existed until we saw one the other day and investigated. It seems they are quite parasitic and spray their eggs on pollen sites so they get picked up by bees and pollinators. Cheeky!


We see them darting about the garden looking to spread their egges - so perhaps it gives us a clue where we should expect to see bees too.


We were going to try a using a tube into the nest today to see if that improved the residency time of the queen. But we were concerned the tube we had was too narrow for BB11 (Redtail) to fit through, so while trying to nest her, we immediately reverted to our usual technique. 


BB11 was quite feisty, trying to escape, and took about 15 - 20 minutes to finally make her way into the box. Neither of us like it when this happens, but we feel we have to persist, not just due to the effort in catching the bee, but also because we know we are really doing her a favour and giving her a good nest if only she'd check it out!  BB11 stayed about 20 minutes during which there was the now-typical scratching around in the box, then left. She too spiralled up away from the box. I tried to capture it on video not very successfully; we just don't know if this is part of her "landmarking".


So, disappointment that she didn't stay the night but left at about 5pm - which we were surprised by; obviously she felt she could still find somewhere to stay. The box temp (outside) was about 15 degrees at the time.


However, the exciting news was seeing two redtails nest searching on our lawn during the afternoon. Stupidly we didn't have pots ready in time to be able to catch them, but it's so encouraging that they are even coming to our garden. Again, whether this indicates an increase in demand (more bees coming out of hibernation) or a reduction in supply (good sites being taken) we don't know. The frustrating thing, of course, is they did not check out the nestbox at the back, just feet away!

 

Every day we are thinking carefully about how we can make the box(es) more attractive and thinking like a bee to figure out what to do.So, today we added some dried cut grass to the outside (and a little inside) to make it appear more like an entrance in a grassy bank. Ok, so it's not that realistic at the moment, but I think in the fullness of time we could practically bury the box in a mound of grass and plants that make it very realistic!

bees'-eye view of the grassy entrance

Between 4.30pm and 5.30pm we also saw two redtails nest searching in our lavender at the front. Again, a little frustration they did not find the box (although we were part way through our operation with BB11, so it wouldn't have helped) but fantastic news they are getting so close and exploring just a few feet away.

It would be wonderful to think that if we worked hard and created a perfect environment for them, we might get one nesting of its own accord. I had begun to think that we would not see them nest-searching anywhere nearby, after all it's a housing estate and we are right on the road; so I'm incredibly encouraged to see this behaviour. The second of these redtails shot across the road to a neighbour's lawn and spent about 15 mins exploring every square metre of it. Amazing to watch. BCW was poised to try and catch it, but had to avoid drawing attention to herself and in the end it proved impossible, which was a shame. Great to see though.

Meanwhile during the afternoon, I had been busy completing the irrigation system. All the supply pipes are now buried and round the edges of the garden is a pipe we can tap off wherever we put pots. A computerised timer controls the watering cycle. This means there is no limit now to the plants and pots we can buy (and where we can site them) to encourage the bees. Feeling pleased with this :)

2 up, 2 down

Another hive of activity today - and that was just us! 

The main activities were:

  • catch some new bees to introduce to the nest, since BB7 and BB8
  • buy a "Blue Tit Rhododenron" which we identified as being very popular with Bumbles
  • check we had the ants under control (which seems the be the case
  • try out sugar/apple sauce for its attractiveness to Bumbles (nothing conclusive to report yet)
  • upgrade our automated irrigation system to cope with all the new plants
  • produce a youtube video of Bee8 in her box

 First job was a trip to the garden centre to get the irrigation gear and the Rhododendron. BCW (Bee Catching Wizard) had assured me it was a perfect plant for attracting Bumblebees (even though it is not on the suggested BBCT list). Well, even as we carried it through the garden centre, we had a Bufftail land on it and take a ride.

 A Bufftail taking a ride on our RhododenronOnce home we went out bee-catching again; we are getting a feel for a good time, usually between about 2.30pm and 4pm. I'm starting to take lots of temperature readings to see whether there is a correlation between temperature levels and bee nest-searching activity. At about 3pm we were able to find two redtails quite easily (not to mention seeing one in our own garden, searching in the longer grass). 

For once I accompanied BCW and I also caught a Redtail of my own, so we came home with two together. My Redtail (BB9) looked a little more agitated so we introduced her to the front nestbox straight away, she was well behaved and went straight in without fuss. She was off camera for a while and then became visible and was scratching around and cleaning as all they all seem to do. At one point it looked like she was burying down into the bedding, but she did a circle and came back where she started!

While I kept watch BCW introduced BB10 to the back nestbox and kept watch for a while. We have no camera in that box yet, so sadly we can't really be sure what happened once we stopped looking. 

Meanwhile BB9 at the front had decided to leave quite quickly (after 20 - 30 mins). She gave the impression of another little spiral as she left - we can't really work out if this is a navigational thing or not. I'm not 100% convinced - it doesn't seem as though the bee is really taking it all in! Just a hunch :)

So BCW went off there and then to catch another bee. By now it was about 4.30. After an hour and a half she had had no luck. By this time the bees seem to be quite frantic to bed down, so even if you do see them, they are more frenzied and much harder to catch. 

Meanwhile I was working on upgrading our automated irrigation system. Phase 1 and 1.5 of this was completed some time ago, but all the new plants and the addition of the nestbox at the back has created more plants to water over a wider area than before and the old system was not capable of supporting this. The plan is to provide a main irrigation supply round all four edges of the garden, which we can then tap off at any point to water any pots, wherever they are. The water is controlled automatically and we will be adding a water butt in due course. 

Irrigation Pipe being buriedLegacy Pot-watering system around nestbox 2

We also learnt what "bee flys" were today (bombylius major) as we have been seeing lots and wanted to identify them. It's a never ending journey of education!