Cool it

It was a cool day today and we woke with great expectation, wondering what had happened to BB14 overnight in our box. At 8.30am we checked on the box camera - no sign of movement or sound. And outside was about 9 or 10 degrees. We felt it safe to assume she was still in there from the previous night, especially since we've seen other bumbles emerge from the box at 10.30 once the sun is warming up.

To cut a long story short, we didn't see her all day! This left us in a bit of quandary - had she slipped out before we even got up? Did we miss her leaving (to be fair, we couldn't monitor the camera non-stop)? Or was she still in there? The bottom line is, we don't know. 

I'll admit to being rather frustrated - especially with the poor visibilty from the camera caused by the grasses in front of the box (and the cloudier day). I've been itching to get my hands on the new camera tech which has really good built-in infra-red lighting. 

Joy of Joy - the postman knocked and it arrived!

"Spycam" with infrared for use in the nestboxSome quick tests showed this was going to be a very good solution and I'm itching to get it in the nest box. In fact, I've decided to order another so I have one for each box. And instead of replacing the camera in the main box, I will simply add this one as well, so that we have two views inside the box. That'll be fantastic if we get a nest! (Though I'm now seriously considering the need for a vision mixer of some kind).

The coolness and cloudiness of the day led us to decide not to go bee-catching today; it never rose much above 12 degrees. So great excitment ensued when we spotted a bufftail mooching around the lavender by the front nestbox at lunchtime! Could it have been BB14? We don't know! And much as we would have loved her to, she didn't go into the box. Then again at 5.30pm we saw a bufftail again doing the same thing! (I'm becoming BSE - bee-spotter extraordinaire). But this bufftail also didn't discover or enter the nestbox; so again, we are left a little bit uncertain as to what is going on inside the nestbox tonight; we actually assume nothing. To be cautious we have left the main nestbox undisturbed, just in case BB14 is in there tonight. But if there is no sign again tomorrow, I will probably install the new camera in Box 2 and then swap them over. 

A turn-up for the box

It wasn't a bee day today, so it was a case of taking stock, doing a bit more "bee thinking" (seeing the world from a bee's eyes to improve the landscaping) and adding some grasses to the garden.

Based on several Bumbles recently bumbling around looking for a nest site on our back lawn, we figured that the longer grass must have been an attraction for them. So, as well as adding some dried grass around our nestbox entrances, with the aim of making them (theoretically) look a bit more like a grassy hummock, we also decided to add some potted grasses to create taller stems that bees would want to dive down into and look under. 

Our other idea was to create a "runway" from the lawn to the rear nest box, in the hope that if bees also searched along it, they would naturally find the nestbox. It may sound like a crazy idea, but only yesterday on the news (13th April 2011) a project in Yorkshire was announced to create "bee roads" across the county, to help provide a habitat for them to feed and thrive. 

 Grass "runway" to the rear nestboxWe will probably still cover the rear nestbox with more grass and make it much more camouflaged, once we are happy this is the best location. 

Bee's-eye view of the front nestbox.. starting to look nicely disguised. Perfect for exploration!I was fooling about creating a "bee's-eye" video on my iPhone, flying from plant to plant and we were observing all the wonderful handiwork BCW (bee catching wizard) had been doing through the day when I spotted a bufftail (BB14) landing on the grass and looking for a place to bed down! I couldn't quite believe it, as it was by now 6.30pm and had been cold all day. BCW had been out late afternoon and not seen any bees, although had seen a deer and nearly jumped out of her skin! The outdoor temperature was about 10.4 degrees, so this little Queen was very late to be out finding somewhere to bed down.

BCW rushed for our pot and caught her; so, of course, we were able to take her straight to the front nestbox and encourage her to enter. That took about 10 minutes, during which time it was feeling very chilly. BB14 she was very calm and placid, and cleaning herself inside the pot and not really trying to escape. This is unlike the redtails, which seem a lot more feisty and sometimes try biting their way out with their mandibles. Eventually she realised she could enter the nestbox and off she went.

Bumblebum 14 (Bufftail) going into the nestbox

Because of the failing light we couldn't really make anything out on the camera, so we were relying on the audio to hear what she was up to. We heard about 10 minutes of scratching around, hopefully making a bed! After that it went silent - and by about 8pm she still hadn't come out of the box, so we assume she has stayed the night! Looking forward to seeing what happens in the morning and also to getting the new infrared light I've ordered from eBay!