Open Sesame - Nestbox Entrance Design

Over the weekend we made yet further modifications to the layout and entrances of our nestboxes. It has been a process of constant tinkering, which in itself might be argued contributes to a lack of success attracting a Queen Bee. On the other hand, all the information we've read suggests that commercial nest boxes like those we are using have very low success rates. Apparently even research scientists struggle to achieve 10% occupancy in nest boxes. 

So, our strategy has been to apply "bee logic" as we have gone along: to take all we have read and learned alongside everything we have observed in the wild to try and combine all the best elements as seen through "bee eyes". This has been a process with several phases, making adapations to the following elements:

• the internal layout of the box
• the position of the boxes
• the environment surrounding the boxes (including other plants and flowers)
• the features of the entrance both internally and externally

In this article I'm going to discuss the latest enhancements to the entrance. It should be borne in mind that when I say "enhancements" this combine human enhancements (i.e. things that improve our ability to work with the nestbox) and suspected bee enhancements (i.e. things we think will appeal to the bees).

Box Tube with Funnelled Entrance 

One of the pieces of advice we had read regularly but not yet acted on was to use some tubing inside the nestbox, which is thought to create a stronger sense of going underground for the Bumblebee. Since most of them either insist, prefer or are happy to nest underground, it seems like good advice. And to be honest, we probably should have tried it earlier. 

We've seen this technique in two separate guises and we have combined both:

• a short tube inside the box which leads the bee towards the nest area
• a longer tube outside the box, possibly paritally buried, which gives a sense of tunneling underground

I tried a few bits of random tubing I had lying around to no avail - nothing really fitted properly and we were also concerned not to make the entrance too narrow for the bees to safely pass through. So, in the end I opted to use some cable ducting, designed to make the cables at the back of your TV tidier. This tubing is actually split all down the centre so that you can adjust it's diameter to any size. 

So, here's the first piece of tubing:

Entrance tubing using cable tidy tubingI trimmed the tube so that the overlaps were minimal. The gaffer tape is keeping the tube together at the "narrow end" which inserts into the actual nest box entrance. I suspect the ridges are quite useful as they will channel any water, although the aim is to keep it as dry as possible as bees do not like the wet. I also used a bradawl to create holes all along the tube so that it can drain whatever orientation it is.

A short piece of tube like this was pushed halfway into the entrance hole inside the box - nothing more to do there.

For the outside we needed to create a flat or funnel shape, because if we are manually introducing bees to the box, we need to be able to "dock" the pot we capture them in; i.e. we have to be able to seal the pot against the box so that the bee cannot escape. The solution I can up with was to attach the top of a soft-drink bottle to the tube:

full entrance pipe with "docking funnel"It all looks a bit heath robinson but do bear in mind this is just a first version, so there is scope to improve it going forward. The gaffer tape actually serves a very useful purpose aside from being great at holding it all together: it helps to create smooth, soft edges. 

It also turns out that the pot BCW (Bee Catching Wizard) is using to catch bees actually fits this diameter perfectly and will "dock" into the funnel such that it can be left hands-free. See below:

Fully "docked" entrance tubeIn case you are wondering what the hi-vis reflective tape is for, this is to help us see the entrance when it is in situ, because it is quite well camouflaged and surrounded by grasses. It also helps at night when we have found it very hard to see: a quick flash of a torch will easily locate the entrance. 

In the next picture you can see the full system fully assembled:

fully assembled "docking" system on nestbox 1The picture above shows nestbox one - which our best equipped box (it has two cameras). You can see the overall layout inside the box too, as well as the two cameras. The reflective tape inside the box serves a similar purpose: it helps align the cameras and make sense of the view once the lid is on and it is dark. There is nothing particularly special about the pattern of stickers, it's fairly random!

Once the tube is installed we are able to apply some camouflaging, as below:

camouflaged entrance on front boxSince taking this picture, we've actually greatly increased the foliage and camouflage around the entrance and it looks fabulous. The good thing is - and here comes the bee logic - it looks like a really obvious hole in the foliage that is surely worthy of exploration by any curious Queen Bee. I'm pretty confident if they were poking around this part of our garden they would be tempted to have a look; which is the (w)hole point!

Box Tube with Foam Entrance

Because we have the luxury of two boxes, we have tried something a little different on the second box. This is really just to hedge our bets as we don't know if a bee is smart enough to tell the above entrance is a bottle and possibly a piece of litter. Or maybe it is too shiny and smooth. When we reflect on our observations of where Bumbles are looking for nests, it's in long tall grasses or dried, cracked muddy embankments, quite often near trees or bramble bushes. So, these are all parameters we have to consider and try to mimic. 

So, for the rear box, we have used some "dry foam" (which is used for flower arranging) as a block into which to mount the entrance tubing. In all other senses the box is the same, although the exterior camouflaging is also different and the box only has one camera.

box 2 layout Once installed this is how the box looks with a bee's-eye view (see below). Although the exposure in this picture is a bit bright, the foam block is light brown and resembles a piece of muddy embankment. (We could even carve some rough shapes in it, if we were so inclined.)

new "foam block" entrance on box 2Here is a picture of Bumblebum 28 resting on the foam block. She refused to enter both boxes and tucked herself up under the grasses to sleep.

BB28 resting on the foam block, box 2

We've not yet tested these designs in the wet, so once that has happened there may be further work to do. In particular, I'm not sure how well the foam will stand up to the rain, so that is something I will monitor closely. Aside from that I'm very pleased with the effect - and I just hope the Bees are also suitably tempted by the new "look". 

3 is the magic number

Much of today (once BB25 had set sail) was spent on other bank holiday chores as well as some garden and beebox improvements. Yes, I know it's hard to believe there are any we can make as we are on about revision 10! But with two boxes there is scope to test different tweaks independently. 

We are very happy with the new entrance design and the ability to camouflage the whole box; the back nestbox is really starting to look just like a grassy mound in the garden. However, each time we introduce a bee and it chooses to leave, we feel there is perhaps something we can try that might work differently. Today we decided to remove some of the brown bedding fibre and replace some of it with cut meadow straw. This is more akin to what a rodent would use/have access to for building a nest, and we know that bees are attracted to unoccupied rodent nests. It also has a much better smell of "nature" if such a thing is quantifiable. We also used some of this straw to further disguise the exterior of the boxes, to great effect.

Later in the afternoon we both went out independently to do a bit of bee hunting. I'm now tending to stick to the inside line of the nearby field edge where there is a deep ditch. Although activity levels overall have reduced, this is where I am seeing the most. Meanwhile, BCW sticks to the road side of the same field (which is incidentally where we have found a 'real' redtail nest) and back of the housing estate.

Between us we caught three vestal cuckoo bees first of all. These are the bees that mimic bufftails. The timing is textbook - about 6 weeks after the bufftails emerge, we begin to see the cuckoo equivalents looking to invade their nests. Given that we hadn't even seen one a week ago, we are doing well to identify them quickly and easily; and thankfully this particular type is sufficiently disimilar for an alert novice such as myself to be able to identify. We let all these cuckoos go as we do not want them anywhere near a potential nest.

I saw a few bufftails in tall grass near brambles (may, of course, have been cuckoos) and risked life and limb to traverse the ditch to go after them with no avail. In the end I was rewarded with a redtail.

 BB26 - redtail

We agreed to try it in the front nestbox as we had hoped to catch a Common Carder and try it in the back nestbox. The new "docking" system works a treat, but this redtail (BB26) was not for going in. After about 50 minutes she eventually entered the box, quickly traversed the inside and then left after 2 minutes. This was only to be expected - no doubt she was stressed after her capture, as she was not placid at all. Perhaps we should have let her go sooner - this is one long learning journey. 

BB26 - redtail - docked for entry!

We went back out and within a short time also both caught Bufftails. We were very careful to confirm they were queens, showing nesting-searching behaviour and not cuckoos;  this is becoming increasingly important now as there are queens with nests (who must not be taken away from them), their offspring workers, and cuckoos all attracting our attention. We go through a process of both identifying the bee before even taking it home. 

We put the first bufftail (BB27) in the rear box. She went in very quickly (it's a little baffling how some do and how some resist - we have not figured out the 'psychology' yet). Unfortunately she did not appear on camera (only one camera in the rear box) so we had to rely on audio scratching to tell she was in there. However, after 20 minutes there was no sight nor sound of her, so we assume she had gone.

We brought the second bufftail (BB28) to the front box intially.

BB28 - Bufftail

She was a funny one! She was totally still as I brought her home and then when we docked my pot, she also sat still just staring at me! Not a peep from her! I had to go out to get some food and while I was gone BCW reported that she then started buzzing becoming active, but still refusing to enter the box.

Eventually BCW decided to move her to the back nestbox to try there. I then turned up and it was the same story, she sat there, still as can be! Still refusing to go in the box.

After 30 minutes or so of this, she was apparently still not stressed, we decided we would remove the pot and leave her to her own devices. Rather like BB2, she didn't fly off (it was 8.30pm by now and we dearly hoped she wouldn't as she had a safe place to sleep here), but simply crawled up the front of the entrance to shelter in the overhanging grass. At 9pm she was still there so we let her be and assumed she felt safe for the night!

B28 bufftail - refused to enter nestbox, sleeping on entrance under grass

So, all in all, an odd day: 3 cuckoo bees caught and released; 3 "proper" queens caught, but none really interested in entering or exploring our boxes. Which is in complete contrast to the Carder (BB25) we had the night before. It's very hard to decide whether this something we are doing, such as tinkering with the boxes; or whether it's down to individual personalities and species of bee and their preferences.

There is still so much to learn.