Piece 2 Camera

Today was planned as a tech day.

The second infra-red equipped camera arrived in the post (far too early!) so the plan was to fit that to the main beebox (currently in the back garden) and put that box at the front again. Of course, the first job was to check whether anything had crept into it. 

checking the box for activity

Based on our learning from the first infra-red cam in the back-up box, I'd decided that I would add this new camera to the main box and leave the original one in there. I.e. two cameras in one box. This would provide better coverage across the floorplan of the box and also cater for situations where a camera gets disturbed or occluded (as happened with BB15). Also, it meant I could arrange them to provide better coverage of the entrance and avoid blindspots. We had BB15 sneak out on us without being able to see her on the camera and were lucky to spot her leaving the entrance through the window. 

Here's our new floor plan, which is the latest template for both boxes. 

Master beebox layoutThe main features are as follows:

• Much reduced amount of bedding. And the hamster bedding (for smell) is now mainly under the brown fibre bedding. We're not convinced the Bees find it useful and there is a risk of it blocking the camera.
• A new and extended "inner entrance tube" with a chamfered edge. The idea of the tube is to help trick the Bees into thinking they are going further underground, and I suspect there is a benefit from reducing the incoming light too. The chamered edge serves a couple of purposes. It limits the reduction in visibility from the main camera and is also intended to force the bees into view of the camera when they enter and leave.
• Some high-visibility reflective markings on the walls that the cameras can see. This really helps line the cameras up and get a sense of what they can and can't see. But also once the box is in situ with the lid on and operating under infra-red, they provide a marker for the far wall which helps makes sense of what you're looking at and the depth of field, since the main cameras are looking along the length of the box. They reflect the infra-red so appear as a very bright white marker, so you know instantly if you can see the far wall or not. From what we've learnt already this is an extremely useful feature. 

Having set out this template for the main box, the next job was apply it to the second box; this would bring them both up to the same standard. 

nestbox 2 laid out according to the new templateIt's basically the same as box 1, although the inner entrance tube (which was done previously) is probably not as good. And of course, there's only the one camera. 

This was the box that BB15 spent two hours mooching around in the day before, so we were keen to see what she had been up to. Plenty it seems, as below:

Some swirled together bedding on the right hand sideOn the right hand side is the sense of a little nest/tunnel that BB15 made. And she'd done the same thing in several places in the box. We still don't understand the logic of her doing this but then deserting the box. 

Once the boxes were completed, the next job was to get them sited and get all the video monitoring set up. This meant now having two monitors at the front and one at the back. 

Monitoring Front (Main) Nestbox

For the last few days I'd been using an old TV as the main monitor for the front desk. Apart from being unweildy and energy thirsty, I took a massive chunk out of the wall when I nearly dropped it, so it was essentially unpractical. So, we replaced it with a new slim 16 inch LED screen. Compact, light, low on energy, able to play our music on a USB stick and all sorts of other goodies. The picture quality is good and the iPhone is able to photograph it ok!

new monitoring setupThe second camera will be monitored with our small LCD TV that we had been using to date. The camera it is attached to (the very original one I used) is benefitting from the addition of infra-red. 

Monitoring Rear (Secondary) Nestbox

As a temporary solution I have put the old TV in the garage to monitor the rear nestbox, but the intention is to remove the need for this and bring the video signal into the house; possibly to the main TV. 

temporary TV in garageWiring

I made a small improvement to wiring today. Most of the wiring is sealed already and in long single segments so not a problem being outdoors; and also routed underground using some trunking. However, the cameras are connected to power and video/audio at the nestboxes using standard phono and powerjack connectors. (This makes it possible to disconnect the box from installed wiring in order to move it.) To date I haven't sealed these connections, so today I took the opportunity to do so. I'd orginally planned to use something like a "chocbox" (as seen on Dragon's Den). They are fairly cheap in the grand scheme of things but expensive for what they are, really. So, I bought some very small and cheap plastic containers (probaby the kind of thing you'd stick in a child's pack lunch box) and made my own by routing the wires through the clip on lid. Some insulating tape helps seal it and hold the lid on extra tight. This solution is about 1/3rd the cost of a chocbox. 

home made "chocbox" for 1/3rd the costBees, Bees, where are you Bees? 

We went out at about 4pm to try and find a Bee for our newly installed setup; it was still about 15 degrees C, but the weather was looking more threatening and ominous. It had been a bit of weird day - warm (about 16 degrees) but we'd seen no bees at all at the front or back of the house; even around the newly mowed lawn. As ever I was feeling like we have run out of time to get a Queen and that it's only a few stragglers that we are seeing. But BCW is more confident and she is, after all, BCW, so I trust her :-) 

We wandered to the usual place and saw nothing. I even went into the nearby field and tracked along the ditch line, which is popular (especially with Redtails), but no joy. BCW was just explaining how at the corner of this field she regularly sees bees coming across the field and then hunting for somewhere to bed down in the corner when she spotted one! But it dived under the bramble bush and never came out. And that was that. 

Somewhere along the way she pointed out where she last saw three bees altogether, and I said "the Beegees?" - and we fell about laughing. We are easily amused! 

The World's smallest sleeping bag?

A day of further learning and some mixed feelings today.

After Queen Bumblebum the Sixth stayed under our heather pot the other night we were keen to see what would happen the next day (yesterday): would she hang around and make for the nest box? Would she just zoom off somewhere else as soon as she could?

In the end she surprised us in an entirely different way. It was a horrible day again yesterday, very inclement and windy weather and we saw no sight nor sound of her all day long. We couldn't watch all day, but it was truly miserable and we concluded, perhaps to our surprise, that she must have stayed under the pot all day too! Who can blame her!

When I got home I thoroughly checked the box cam and confirmed she was not in the nestbox. I very carefully checked all the pots were upright and still shielded by bricks. If lil' bee had chosen to sleep under a pot again, so be it - it was our job to make her as comfortable as possible! After all, can't be too great sleeping on gravel under a pot when she is used to bedding down in grass.

Night came and went and at about 9.30 this morning I went out to check on the site. There was still no activity in the nest box on the camera and I had some fresh bee pollen to place at the nest site. This is an experiment we are trying to see if it encourages more bee activity and feeding. Results so far are completely inconclusive other than to say when it got wet the slugs loved it!

As I put the pot of pollen down I heard a short buzz. I couldn't tell where it was coming from, so I stepped back. Immediately before my eyes I saw little redtail BB6 on the heather! I was gobsmacked! She had spent another night under that pot after all! She was flying about, which meant she had already done her warm up - so I was not responsible for waking her up. She was planning to be up and about on this fine spring day! She looked very puffed up and big, which I couldn't believe after being crushed into the small space she slept it. It just goes to show how resourceful and tenacious these wonderful creaturesare  - poor thing had gone two nights and a day without food and now she needed a decent breakfast!

Queen Bumblebum the Sixth having breakfast after 40 hours under the heather pot!

I withdrew indoors to further observe and she meandered around some of the other flowers. She kept low and close to the box and I was ever so hopeful she was still keeping an eye on it and planning to go back it after topping up on food. Then she lifted up, much like a "jump jet", did a little squirt of what I presume was a pee(!) and then shot off west. I actually felt quite a pang in my heart, to think we had been custodians of BB6 for three whole nights, completely of her own choosing. But I'll admit my heart sank a little as I thought perhaps this was the last we would see of her.

I held out a few minutes in the hope I would see her circling to build up her mental map of the nest, but I didn't see her. So, I was still clinging onto the thought that she might have marked the flowers and will at least return to them tomorrow, if she likes them. But only tomorrow will tell. 

I periodically checked throughout the day but did not see her, so I decided to look in the nest box. We had already agreed that probably we should remove some of the white fibre material that came with the box from the WWF. We were beginning to feel it was way too much after seeing other pictures on the internet of how others have filled it. 

I checked the camera again to ensure nothing had gone into the box and carefully removed the lid. To my astonishment and delighed I discovered the little "sleeping bag" she had made from the brown gerbil nesting material we lined the floor with. It was tiny and ever so cute, so I took a picture! Seems like this little lass was trying to break my heart!

The little "sleeping bag" bumblebum made for her first night's stay in our nest box

Having seen how she chose to work with the brown material and not the cotton-wool-like material and how she had avoided that end of the box, we discussed options and concluded that basically the white stuff should come out, so I removed about 95% of it. I replaced about 15% with some more of the brown. As a result the box is much less crowded and I think this is material she can work with better because it is much more stringy - whereas the white fibre is like cotton wool and hard to work into shape, even for a human; it's all a bit too clingy and forms into balls.  I repeated the procedure with the second box out at the back.  I also noticed the smell of the hamster litter had really died down too, which is good news.

I'm convinced we now have the best set-up yet for any future bumbles we catch and offer our home to.

My heart hopes BB6 will come back, but my head says she probably won't and we need to try and catch another. Our catching wizard was reporting mega activity today in the warmth up in Cheshire so we are still hopeful there are bumbles looking for nests - but time is, of course, running out; we're already starting to see the first brood of miniature hatchling bumbles out gather food (and they are way too cute!)  In fact I saw one buzzing about on our heather. 

It was still 20 degrees C at 7.30pm so I went out in the hope of finding a bee trying to bed down but saw none - I think the light was too low, even though the temperature and weather was very fair, and they were already tucked up for the night.  

So, it looks like we start again looking for BB7!