Hibernation Station

Today's plan was to create some hibernation habitat for ours (or indeed) any other bumble queens. I certainly succeeded but before I go on to explain what i did, a few words about Bumble bee hiberation are in order. 

About Bumblebee Hibernation

The survival of bumblebees depends on hibernation. A bold claim, perhaps, but since colonies are annual and do not survive from year to year, the future "survival" (i.e. development) of a new colony is solely in the hands of the new-born queen and her ability to find a good place to hiberate and survive the winter. The future existence of several hundred bumblebees depends on her success. 

I've found very few scientific papers on Bumblebee hibernation (see Bumblebee Links) - one of the foremost appears to be from 1969 with a more recent study analysing that paper and some its weaknesses as well as providing some new data. 

Of course, this stands to reason: it is difficult to track bumblebees in the wild and given that both the process of entering a hibernation spot and emerging from it in the Spring are but momentary occasions, it's more or less down to chance to be in the right place at the right time to observe it. Of course, knowing a little about preferences and habitat could lead one to have a better clue of where to look and perhaps to be able to find bees during hiberation, but such a practice is not desirable. 

Therefore, we have gleaned what we can to come up with a strategy for possible hibernation in our garden. 

What we've learnt so far is that Bumbles prefer a north-facing location (which helps keep the nest coolness required to prevent them emerging too early in spring) and often hibernate in embankments, under tree stumps or roots and sometimes in/under walls. I've not seen an in-depth analysis of the preferences of each species, this may well be an unresearched area. What we do know is that the Queens will tend to burrow down in loose substrate in order to get deep enough not to get frozen during the winter. This is typically 6 - 8 inches, at least for a usual winter.

At first when I discovered this I nearly abandoned my plan altogether - it seemed to me, without getting the bees well underground, I couldn't guarantee their safety in an above-ground nest box, no matter how well insulated. It looked like I could be tricking them into an environment that would prove to be unsuitable for them.

Then, of course, I had my epiphany. Our boxes are equipped with infra-red cameras; basically very small heaters (as we know from how our "indoor" bumbles loved to gather under them) - so we can actually keep the boxes warm. By controlling the on/off times of the cameras we would in fact be able to keep the boxes at pretty much any temperature that is appropriate. I might even be able to automate the process. So, providing I avoid the risk of making Spring seem to come too early, we should be able to keep the bees very safe from a harsh winter - perhaps more so than out in the "wild".

I fully recognise that the chances of getting a queen to choose one of our artifical locations for hibernation is extremely slim, but we have the nestboxes, so there is no harm in trying to put them to good use.  

Box 1

We had two nestboxes to equip for hibernation so I thought I would try two different designs - each may encourage different types of bees or one may provide a better habitat than the other; either way, we will probably learn more by trying two designs rather than one. 

For the first box I placed a layer of very small decorative stones about 2 inches thick at one end of the box. Although the bees are reported to burrow 6 to 8 inches down, obviously this design is not going to allow them to do that. However, I thought it was sensible to give them the potential to burrow at least some distance, especially as the route down into the box is a good 8 inches in its own right. I filled with extra moss then used all of the "nesting material" that the boxes were actually supplied with. This is to fill the available space and provide insulation, bearing in mind that the bees usually burrow down below the surface of the ground so would not expect a "big" open space (unlike the spaces they would choose for a nest). 

There is tubing to take the bee into the depth of the box and, although not visible in the above picture, it is also equipped with an infra-red camera and a temperature sensor. 

I also thought it made sense to try and re-use the "hummock" I had made in Spring as a disguise for the nest box when queens were nest-searching. Not only would this provide extra insulation but would also help with the subterfuge in trying to create a north-facing "embankment". I had the brainwave to actually turn the shelter round so that it was open at the back and could go flush against the wall. I'm not quite sure why I didn't use it like this in the spring; it seems a far more obvious way to improve the disguise of the box. 

All that was required was to drill a hole to take the tube to the nestbox entrance and I decided to embed the thermometer neatly in the surface; here's the finished article. 

Box 1 under its shelter

I'm actually rather pleased with it!

Box 2 

Box 2 is our original "master" nestbox, which we brought indoors to care for the disabled bees. Consequently it is actually equipped with two cameras, but we are only connecting up one. 

I decided for this box I would try and create something for a bee to really burrow down into if it wanted. So I took the top off an old olive oil bottle, cut it to shape and filled it with more of the small decorative stones. This would lie on its side at and angle, with the stones loose enough for burrowing (well, that's the plan). There's about 3 inches of "burrow length" in this little chamber.

"tunnel chamber"

 The plan, therefore, was to install this chamber inside the box then pack it tight all round with insulating material. BCW kindly went out and gathered some more moss and I also used a bit of our old hamster bedding to create a nice cosy chamber. The only open space is immediately in front of the lower camera, just to give is something to look at. Again, a tube extends from the entrance towards the back wall of the box. I also placed some aluminium foil down one wall to help with insulation. 

xxx

box 2 layouti

This box is going to be less protected from the elements than box 1 because it is going under our hive "shelter" which is not a tight fit - thus the wooden box will be exposed directly to the elements. Insulation is therefore paramount and so another layer of webbing goes across the top and then I topped this off with some more aluminium foil (not shown). 

insulating roof layer

Again, it is equipped with a thermometer in the central chamber. I really don't think a Queen could ask for a better winter residence! 

The completed set up

Here's a picture of the completed setup. Both boxes have been mounted in a North facing position, they are very sheltered and shady. So, from an environmental point of view, the main threat is cold/frost as they are not below ground. (Although, that threat still exists for a bee below ground to a degree.) 

our "hibernation station" alongside the beepol lodge

Over the course of the next few days we will monitor the temperatures in the box and check for thermal stability - i.e. demonstration that they are insulated from conditions outside and maintain a more consistent temperature. We will also check the effect of having the internal cameras (i.e. infra-red) on and off. 

If I'm honest, I'm not really expecting anything to use them, but I'd like to think that a bufftail (which loves to go underground) might at least give the fully-covered box a nosey. I'm really pleased with it - ok so the colours are a bit garish - but I think it has the makings of something that could just about convince a bumble to investigate. 

We don't quite know when our (or any) Queens will start looking to hibernate - it may be a month or more yet - it may be sooner. But at least we now have something to offer them if they are curious.

Moving in a day early!

Well, well, well!

We were expecting to collect our Natupol hive tomorrow, so BCW gave Koppert a call to check everything was ready and there were no problems. (I think we were a bit nervous that because they usually ship by courier they might have gone ahead and done that, even though the arrangement was for us to pick it up.) During the call they said the box was ready and invited us to pick up the box today. Couldn't believe it! So, I was glad we were so prepared.

For those that are curious, here is a video from Koppert (with a delightful Netherlands accent) that describes the Bumblebee Hive.

At the time of writing, I haven't actually been home yet, but I was able to join BCW over skype from my hotel while she prepared the box and opened it up to allow the bees to come out.

Here is the box, closed with the bees inside, under its shelter:

beehive located under shelter - not yet openedfake flowers on top of the shelterTo let the bees out, you open the sliding entrance control. It has two positions. The first position allows bees to enter the box, but not to come out. So you use this position when you need to gather the bees up, e.g. if you are going to move the box, or need to protect them while spraying. The second position (shown below) is fully open and the bees can come and go freely.

This is the position for most of the time - except tonight it was so cold they didn't come out at all! Who can blame them! It's 30 degrees C inside that box and 7 degrees outside! 

Beehive in fully open position - bees can come and go freelyMy next job will be to figure out if I can get a camera into the box without disrupting the bees or nest. I think that's going to require my best Harry Houdini act to date!

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!

Going crazy with expanding foam again!

Here's how I made a shelter for our forthcoming Koppert Bumble Beehive box.

For farmers Koppert recommend a simple sheet of polystyrene foam with a brick on top to hold it down - but to me this seems a bit cheap and cheerful and not necessarily well engineered against bad wind and rain. So, I wanted to do something a bit more creative and potentially robust. 

Having quite successfully made my fake "grass hummock" last week out of expanding foam I decided I could use a similar system to create a protective cover for the new beebox nest. I've been thinking about the design for quite a number of days and it seemed this would be simple and fairly cheap to do. I don't have any wood-working or metal-working equipment (or skills!), so this is a simple solution; even a child could do it. 

However, the structure needs to be more robust than the pure foam structure I created for the "hummock" - as it pretty much rests directly on top of the existing box. However, this structure cannot rest on the box; but more importantly, it must be very resistant to weather - especially the wind which can be very strong here. It would be a complete disaster if it was able to blow over. So, some requirements for this:

1. enough strength to support being weighted down - e.g. with bricks
2. ability to mount some brackets, which is necessary can be fixed to the garage wall
3. overall enough structural strength to hold together even if flexed and blow about

My solution is actually to build a skeleton within the structure with some chicken wire; line this with plastic to ensure excellent waterprooofing; and then apply the foam to this structure to create the overall shelter. 

The steps are outlined below. 

step 1 - measuring out the chicken wireThe chicken-wire is easy to work with - I just measured it to twice the size I needed. 

step 2 - heavy duty plastic folded into the chicken wireThen folded the wire with some heavy duty plastic (you could cut up a bin bag) sandwiched between.

step 3 - creating a folded template over an existing boxThen I folded this over a box that I had checked, double-checked and triple-checked was big enough to cover for the size of the beebox PLUS the bricks it will sit on PLUS room to open/shut the bee entrance control PLUS an overhang to provide shade over the front of the box. It pays to do the arithmetic up front!

step 4 - applying expanding foam to the structureThis actually took two large cans of expanding foam. It's quite tricky to do the sides as it can drop off - so you have to be patient and work in small blobs. That's why the surface looks the way it does. 

Notice also the brackets that are wound into the chicken wire. These provide a future option to tether the shelter to the garage wall if needed. 

step 5 - painting in a light stone colourThen I painted the shelter with some cans of plastic spray paint. Really quick and easy to do. We chose quite a light stone colour which blends against the garage fairly well. 

step 6 - cover installed in location with a "test box" underneath on greased bricksThe greased bricks are to keep the beebox off the ground and prevent ants and insects from being able to crawl up into it. For this reason the beebox should touch any plants or other objects. We also have an ant-trap right next to it. 

I'm testing the shelter for a few days with an empty box inside. If it remains there safely through any blustery weather, I'll be happy. So far so good. For now the shelter is held down with two bricks on the purpose designed "feet". It's actually very stable like that.

view of the box cover with the video camera mounted about itI've also mounted a video camera over the box. At this stage I don't know if it will be possible to get a camera inside the koppert box, so we've put a camera over it. We'll put plants and pollen on top of the shelter that will attract the bees and we'll be able to see them going in and out of the entrance. The camera is all set up and tested and we can view it on the main TV in the house.