Sisters can't do it for themselves

Our nest continues to grow and with it the activty, interest and intrigue. At the time of writing I've only managed to count in detail 2 days' worth of CCTV footage, but it's one heck of a two days!

Over the course of the two days - half of which was rainy/windy we saw:

• 304 foraging trips
• 136 memorisation procedures (equates to first flight of new bees - indicative on the minimum number of workers in the nest)
• Orangey/red and pale yellow pollen being collected
• 5 Queen bees performing memorisation (i.e. 5 new queens)
• 2 Queens bringing back pollen (normally a sign of colony building - another colony already developing?)

Here's a recap of today's additional activity.

First of all, Queens. When there's unusal activity going on in the nest, it's easy to start doubting what you are seeing. What seems to happen is I start off with an instinct that something is happening because of a short observation. Then I spend a day or two thinking I'm going mad. Then, I typically see really good evidence that shows it was happening. The I start to think I am still seeing things!

It's like that with the queens. I thought I saw one, but I assumed she was the colony "mother". Then of course I saw two so knew something else was going on. And finally at the latest count, five. 

I can count them, by the way, by combining a number of techniques. First is sequential exits/entrances. If 3 leave without returning, then I know there are at least 3. Likewise, sometimes I will have counted some that have left, and then see more in the nest at the same time, so this also gives a number. Finally, I can count the memorisations - which is done once (usually) for each new bumblebee that goes on a flight. Using all this data serves to give a guaranteed minimum number with a high degree of confidence. 

Anyway, some pics of the queens. Compare the sizes with the regular workers.

 queen returning to nest (CH1)Queen returning with yellow pollen (CH1)Queen with pollen coming into land (CH1)And then the queen goes into the nest - and you can clearly see all her pollen (shows up white under the infra red)

Queen with pollen (CH2)Another queen emerged, but had imperfect wings and was struggling to make her first flight. It took her about 20 minutes of trying to lift off, but she could not sustain flight very well. unfortunately I lost track of her.. 

Queen - foreground - with imperfect wings is pacing the ledge trying to flySince I've been doing some audio recording of the nest this year I also took the chance to measure the audio frequency of these Queens' buzz. The result was 135Hz +/5Hz.  This ties in perfectly with the samples I took from captured queens. It stands to reason that frequency and size are related (in general at least), as is true for the human throat/chest and any musical instrument. It certainly would be nice to have a clear frequency range for queens that guarantee you know what you are dealing with. (I'm not finding a lot of research on bumblebee frequencies).

Fanning

I caught one busy bee "fanning" today. This is the process of beating the wings to draw cooler air into the nest when it is too hot. To be honest, the temperature wasn't that hot. Outdoors it was 16C, and ambient in the nest was 23C (it's been hotter - thought bear in mind this is not the core). Perhaps this particular bee has a low threshold for fanning.

Actually, this was a theory I postulated last year - that different bumblebees have different trigger thresholds. Firstly, from a natural variation point of view it almost stands to reason. But secondly, in terms of a distributed "control system" for the nest that ensures fanning is not "all or nothing" but happens in a controlled way in response to increasing temperature, it makes sense that some bees are more sensitive and start fanning at a lower temperature. As the nest temperature climbs, more bees will be triggered to join the throng. Providing the fanning process itself doesn't generate undue heat, then such a system would basically be wonderfully self regulating (without the need for central command and control), because as more bumblebees start fanning, not only will the effect be greater, but fewer will be working in the nest and generating core heat. 

 bumblebee fanning near nest entranceshe's moved position - still fanning, wings clearly visible in motionThe she moves right to the entrance and continues. She was here for a good few hours (seemingly unnecessarily). 

Still fanning in the entranceI couldn't capture the sound of her fanning, but at peak temperature it sounded as though others in the nest were also doing so, so I recorded some of that and measured the frequency also. Because the sound is coming from the wings more than the thorax, it is not the usual buzz but the whisper of the wings through the air at a slower speed than normal flight (like a room fan). It's hard to determine if there is a fundamental frequency, but for what it's worth, my meter showed 135Hz sustained for extended periods of time. Interesting in that it is the same fundamental as the queens' buzz, but it is not a buzz and does not have the same characteristics. 

Rescuees

It was pretty much certain we'd get some less well bumbles to care for indoors again this year - there are always imperfections in nature. I'd hoped it wouldn't be too soon, but it was today. Actually, this box has gone longer than last years before discovering some under-formed bees. 

I actually found two - and they insisted on coming out of the nest and trying to fly but were unable to. The first one is worst off, with only 1 wing and 5 legs and I found her about 6 feet from the nest. Lucky for her really, as if I hadn't spotted her then I might never have done and she could be starved or bird-food by now. The second one has both wings, but they are crooked, one is too small, and she can't fly. (I made sure for 30 mins in the open that they couldn't, but it's obvious anyway). 

They are both similar size, and very small, under 1cm. I've not managed an accurate measurement yet, but around 8mm I reckon. Possibly smaller than Holly. I'm actually pleased to have found two as they can offer each other company and interact with each other. Last year one of the most painful things was to see Holly behaving as if she was depressed when she was alone (she had company from other bees some of the time, but she outlived them all). You think I'm kidding?  

Here are our two little darlings, just resting nest to each other. Maybe they are bonding ☺ They are certainly getting on fine:

Our two new under-formed bumbles indoors - as yet unnamedAlthough it is not recommended to revive bumblebees by feeding on honey water, we have no option. Sugar water does not provide mineral content, it is just empty energy and not nutrition, so we have to provide honey, even though there is a risk of bacteria. Last year Holly actually survived 70 days in our care, which is as astonishing life span for a worker bee (typically 15 - 20 days). 

a sense of scale

Tonight they have drunk really well and been mooching around with plenty energy, don't seem to be stressed and are co-operating just fine. They won't grow any bigger - their exo-skeleton has developed to this size and that's how it will stay, so they are amongst the smallest in the colony. Perhaps they hatched too soon, or just didn't get the temperature needed for development (which is critical). At least they are mobile. 

I hope these two have a decent lifespan, but whatever the case, we will give them a good quality of life however long it is - free from predators and starvation. 

Crack open the shandy?

Our bumblebees provide an endless source of fascinating entertainment - any organised/social animal colonies are intriguing to see in action in their own right, but the chaotic, bumbly nature of bumblebees adds a Chaplinesque sprinkling of fun to the whole occasion.

We've learnt so much with such observations, but some things still remain a little of a mystery. Here are some of the current ones:

1) We don't know if we have a Queen in our nest or not. We found a dead bumble outside the box when we got back from Holiday, with some pollen on her legs. Could have been a/the remaining queen. But strangely two remaining (and easily identifiable) bees in the nest are still collecting pollen and nectar. This usually suggests a developing brood, though it's hard to see how.

2) Our "nest fixer" bee only occasionally goes out to collect pollen; perhaps once a day, although she does go out more regularly, perhaps to drink. But, we've put a local supply of honey water in the nest for her and she loves it, visiting frequently (e.g. every 2 minutes) until it's run dry. Where is it all going? She can't be drinking it all? We can only conclude she is filling every available honey pot with honey taken from this supply. So, regardless of what mya be brooding, she seems driven to save for a rainy day.

3) Our "pollen collector" bee spends all day going out and collecting pollen. Trips from 15 minutes to 90 minutes are usual. Who is she collecting it for? Is she a queen? We can't quite tell from her size on the CCTV.  But, last night she went out at 4.30 and didn't come back. My heart sank: made a break for it? Killed in action? I hate these moments. 

Then, at 9am this morning she returned - only to the ledge of the nest though - and didn't go in! And off she went again! I'm at a loss to explain this behaviour at the moment, and so once again, my heart sankk. Thankfully, at midday she returned! So, a total of almost 18 hours away from the nest. Why? Where?

4) While she was gone I saw activity from what seemed to be 2 bees - both thin and stripy like our "nest fixer". The uncertainty arises because of the possibility of a technical malfunction on the CCTV which misses something like a bee coming back into the nest. That could trick you into thinking it was still out and thus miscounting another one that's inside. But these events were just a few minutes apart and I think the CCTV can actually be relied upon. So, perhaps we do indeed have a new hatchling that has joined us. That would be amazing.

The proof in the pudding will be finding when she leaves the nest and whether she performs some navigation circling (memorisation) of location.

If that happens, I'll definitely crack open a shandy.

Down but not out...

It's been a busy few days with more bees coming into care. There on the grass was a stranded bumble - still - silent. 

It looked liked it was a bufftail or vestal cuckoo and on closer inspection it had both wings - but the right one was damaged - sort of "folded". 

found on the lawn - damaged wing.Of course, it couldn't fly. Actually, I say of course, but this is not necessarily a given. There are reports that bumbles can fly with as much as 50% of the wings missing. But that's "edge damage" as opposed to "structural damage" which what we have here. Little bee can't, for example, join the front and rear wings together with her special "hooks", owing the bend. And that's another thing, we're not 100% sure she's a girl or a boy.

The ice cream tub was summoned and duly mossed and honey-watered. And for a while it was looking good, even though when she tried to take off she managed only a slightly sustained hop. Not being entirely sure of her constitution and origin we decided on an overnight quaratine before contemplating addition to the main indoor nest, occupied by Holly. 

We were glad about this decision. The next day came and little bee was less well. Slow, lethargic and by mid morning unmoving, keeled over, with all the memories of the untimely death of BLB. We took her indoors to wait the long 24 hours that we felt we needed to be sure. 

Thank goodness we did - the next day some signs of life. A little twitching; antennae probing; sufficient energy to drag herself away from the heat of the laptop, though not to consume any drink. In the end BCW accidentally spilled some honey water on the kitchen towel and finally little bee quenched her thirst. With new energy, she heaved herself onto the moss and bedded down for the night, while we moved the tub over Holly's infrared lamp. This maintained a temperature somewhere safe around 24 degrees. 

After another night, she still had life signs, though barely impercetible. Perhaps if she was humanoid she'd be four score and twenty; creaking at the joints; wheezing and failing. Still, she dragged herself around the tub a little. She's a brave fighter. And we, the helpless spectators. 

The morning was further punctuated by the finding of another invalid by BCW. Racing across the grass, with only one wing to show for it. BCW came to the rescue and before you could buzz, this biggerLittleBumble was in a care ward of its own too. Same protocol: isolation and quarantine to begin with, for the safey of all concerned. Now, biggerLittleBumble is more energetic, but again is doomed never to fly. All that energy has to be worked off somehow - racing round the box is one way; perhaps he's a boy. Boys do that kind of thing. Well, BLB did for sure, and he was a boy.

So, in total we have taken 4 bees into care. BLB passed away soon after and it seems that littleBee might do so soon. But we still have Holly (who is doing amazingly well, almost miraculously so) and biggerLittleBumble. The big question is, can they live together harmoniously? 

Who's going to learn the most? Them or us?

Testing, Testing 1, 2, bee

We were very glad for the May-Day bank holiday as it gave us a chance to prepare for the arrival of our Koppert Natupol Beehive. As I work in IT, I'm very used to the concept of thorough testing, preparation and quality assurance, so it was important to me that we had run through as much as possible and were prepared as possible for the arrival of the box. Bearing in mind, too, that the whole point of my "shelter" structure was to out-perform a slab of Expanded Polystyrene held on top of the hive with a brick (as suggested by the supplier).

The types of things we had to make sure were in place were:

• stability of the shelter for the hive - important to keep shade and waterproofness; tolerant to wind
• suitable containers to provide pollen on top of the shelter; tolerant to wind and rain
• suitable containers to provide honey-water on and around the shelter; also tolerant to the elements
• ability to place and remove the box under the shelter easily
• stability of the greased bricks on which the hive rests under the shelter
• overall colour and sympathy with the surroundings (ok, a slightly moot one, that!)
• setup of the overhead video camera

We're talking about hosting a live colony of bees, so there is no room for taking chances - everything must work fine and protect them (and our investment) properly and safely.

We ran through the process of setting and removing a dummy box under the shelter and checking stability. The shelter itself had been placed outside for several days and thus subjected to steady winds of about 10mph and gusts upto about 23mph. (That new weather station already proving its worth!) It's taken this wind fine and while this is not the full extent of possible Fenland blusteriness, it's a good initial test; and there is scope to deal with more via the brackets I've embedded into the structure. I have no concerns about waterproofness due to the heavy duty plastic also sandwiched in the structure.

With those "mechanical" tests out of the way we turned our attention to providing some food supplies to the bees.

Of course, the bees can fly many kilometres to find their own food, but we also want to supply some in the early days to make life a little easier for them and encourage a favourable response to their new location. I've not uncovered any research yet on what it takes for bees to learn their location if their nest is moved; suffice to say, we don't want to take any chances and want them to find our garden as bee friendly as possibly

Let the science begin

In the morning I'd had a flash of inspiration, making a fake "flower" to hold our "nectar" (a honey/water mix at 30/70) from a shower gel cap and a bottle top:

 underside of fake "flower" with bottle top sealed oncompleted "flower" - what bee could resist that purple?The "flower" is just filled with a dropper and holds about 4ml. I stuck it to some card to make it more stable in the ground. Spurred on by my delight at this creation we went to the local "pound" shop to raid it for all manner of plastic, sticky coloured things to come up with some ideas for making similar flowers. Here's what we bought:

raw materials for flower makingThis bright jumble of bits cost under a fiver and seemed to provide all manner of colourful goodies to make petals and holders and capsules and so on. We bought some cheap paint too. The piece-de-resistance was most definitely the "hair snare" (top right) which is designed to stop hair going down the shower plughole.

The minute we saw these we knew instantly we could place them over a pot (Waitrose peeled garlic cloves, as it happens!) filled with our "nectar" to provide a safe platform for bees to poke through and drink from. This completely solved the problem of having to fix (onion) netting over bottle tops to make them safe when full; a tedious and fiddly job. 

The pill holders were absolutely brilliant too - each day comes out from the main tray separately. So, we could, for example, have a rotation system on little cubes of pollen. We could even colour them differently and try differing arrangements. 

In the end this is what we came up with to get started:

our big, bold flowers!

The reflective material is Diamond Grade reflective tape - the exact stuff you find on police cars. It is seriously unmissable!

Now, to you and me these might not look much like "flowers", but when they are filled with pollen and nectar to a bee they are going to seem like a 3-course dinner!

The big round flowers (made from the shower traps) are designed to hold about 30mls of fake nectar, which should be enough for several bees to feed on easily. (We'll probably never get them off it!). We've painted different patterns, partly for fun but potentially to determine whether one pattern is favoured over another. There is good research that shows that (honey) bees are capable of recognising patterns and learning which are best, so there is definitely scope for experimentation here.

They tray of multi-colour shapes actually contains some upturned containers which have an opening (in the same orientation as the opening in the coloured plastic top). These are all stuck down into the corners and this is designed as a pollen tray. The pollen will be sheltered under the clear plastic corners. 

This will be interesting to watch as the bees will have to learn that they cannot access the pollen directly from above, but follow the marked opening and go "underneath" to get it. I'm confident they will easily be able to do this. Research we have read shows that Bumblebees can learn the layout of different flowers and the different techniques required for accessing their nectar/pollen. And, in fact, once they have learnt a few of these techniques they tend to favour the types of flower they work on, rather than constantly learning new flowers.

Again, there is scope for experimentation here - for example, to see if the bees learn that the gap to get the pollen is round the side and aligned with the gap in the coloured plastic. So what will happen if we change this relative orientation? How long will it take the bees to learn the "new" flower? 

The pill holder at the bottom left is basically on standby at the moment. It could be a pollen or nectar holder and we can bring it into play if we need to take other items out of service or boost the food supply. There is scope to experiment with colours and orientation on this one.

Have you got an idea for an experiment? Why not let us know. 

 profile of our flowersOh, and for a bit of fun, we've added glow-in-the-dark pebbles in our flower pots!

Can't wait for our hive to arrive now and to start studying the bees' behaviour!

All honeymoons have to end

BB33 had stayed for a second night in our nestbox, much to our excitement, so we came down at 10am to see whether she was there or not. 

Once again, I had expected her to have left the box, so was amazed to see her still in the box in the far corner - near where the empty honey-water holder was. Outside the box, both the honey-water and pollen holders (plastic bottle tops) had toppled over and were more or less empty.

We have no way of knowing whether this was some creature in the night that caused that, or whether BB33 had been out to collect from them and had caused them to empty and lose balance. If BB33 had already been outside the box and then returned inside, that would have been significant, as we have never had a bee leave the box and return to (inside) it. 

I quickly re-sited and replenished the pots, not knowing whether BB33 could emerge at any moment and expect some breakfast on hand.

The timing was all rather serendipitous, as within 10 minutes she was buzzing and on the move, and emerged from the nestbox. She crawled over the moss at the entrance and completely ignored the honey-water pot right in her path. She made straight for the pollen pot at the bottom of the moss (which may add weight to the idea she had already been out and knew where it was) and then took flight to the flowers nearby (only about 30cm away). She probed these intensely looking for nectar, but it seemed as though we was struggling to find it. Then after about 45 seconds, she took off, circled twice and left. 

I took this opportunity to very quickly fill the internal container with honey-water, with about 1.5mls of honey-water (on a 30:70 mix). I estimate during the time we saw her drinking from this (90 mins) she consumed 0.75 - 1ml of the liquid (which is my estimate of how much was actually left in the container). We don't know how much this replenishes her as we've been unable to find any data on this yet on the internet and whether this would be enough for whole day. (Well, it must have been on the first day as she never went anywhere!)

We were ever-so-hopeful she would return today but she hasn't. We can't know whether the issue with the honey-water being upturned (and the lack of supply inside the box) is the cause, or whether she would have gone anyway. But I can't help feel a little bit frustrated, if not annoyed, that those issues occured. But there was simply nothing we can do about it, until we develop some kind of live feeding system inside the box.

We have to console ourselves with the fact that she chose to stay two whole nights in our box in beautiful weather, so some of the parameters must be acceptable to her. 

Home, I'm Honey!

Today I also made a slight modification to the nestbox in the back garden to bring it up to a similar standard to the front nestbox. 

The changes/modifcations were as follows:

• change internal tubing
• add internal remote thermometer
• add small capsule of honey-water (having seen this consumed with great gusto in the front nestbox by BB33)

The tubing change consisted of:

• changing to white tubing from black to allow a little more light/translucency into the box
• curving the tube to send the bee into the main body of the box
• creating a hole in the tube below the camera so that we can positively confirm seeing the bee enter and exit the box

The box layout now looks like this:

new layout of rear nestboxYou can see the obvious new tubing layout and in the bottom right you can see the pen-lid filled with honey water. It is just gaffer-taped to the side of the box, which has proven to be a wholly adequate technique. The thermometer sensor is in the top right of the picture and runs to an external display unit a meter away. This LCD unit is actually suitable for embedding in a device or surface, so I may come up with some further ideas on where/how to mount it, if not in the box itself (e.g. it could be embedded in the box lid.)

We got chance to test the latest incarnation of the box out when I caught a bufftail (BB34) in the afternoon. 

Bb34 - Bufftail - rear nestbox

The new tubing system worked a treat and we could easily see her enter and leave the box. She went in the box for about an hour. She was quite placid with some mooching around and cleaning behaviour. Then after an hour she left of her own accord.

She didn't attempt to try the honey-water, so she obviously had other things to be getting on with!

Don't know about Wills and Kate but...

..Queen BB33 stayed here overnight.

I got the surprise of my life this morning when i wandered into the dining room and turned on the nestbox monitor, only to discover that our overnight guest (BB33) was still there! 

BB33 - clinging to the pot of honey waterThe latest we'd had a bee stay in the box overnight was until 10.15 so we were amazed to see her there an hour later; especially on such a beautiful warm day (20 degrees C, clear blue sky). We'd fully expected her to have already left. Over the next 90 minutes she drank regularly from the honey water. I was quite amazed by this as not only has the honey-water been there unattended for quite some time now, but when I last looked it was down to half-level due to evaporation. So, I was surprised she could get anything from it. (We are quite keen to understand how much a bumblebee can drink in one sitting, and we haven't been able to find out yet).

In fact, she seemed to be rather enjoying it, so we started to wonder whether it had fermented a bit and turned to mead! We might have a tipsy bee on our hands! 

Here's a video of her sticking her head right into the pen-lid in order to get some drink (which I think must be empty by now!)

We also took temperature measurements regularly from inside the box, now that we have a remote temperature sensor - wondering whether something would trigger her to come outside. To cut a long story short, she didn't come out all day, although she did retreat to her secret place off-camera for the duration, so we had to check on the audio every so often that we could hear activity.

I was convinced she must have drunk the entire supply of honey water so felt that the next time she wants to drink she will have to leave the box. So, we placed a small quantity of it right by the entrance of the nestbox as we can't get inside while she is in there. (This is something I want to consider for an improved box design - a way to supply fresh beverage to our guest without opening up the box; I have some ideas.) We also spread some pollen around the entrance to the box and on the lid. This will mean she can get supplies easily without going far, hopefully encouraging her to stay near/at the box. 

We have since learned that there is some research that show bumbles are smart enough to go for nectar that is warmer, as this means there is less energy expended by them in heating up - so this is something we can consider in our drink-supplying strategy. It might also explain why she was very happy to take the honey-water from inside the box, which was at about 22 - 23 degrees C - i.e. warmer than outside.  

We last heard a small buzz from her at 17:30 inside the box although have not seen her on the camera and to our knowledge have not seen her exit; so for the timebeing we assume she is still in the box and staying for a second night. This is a first for us!