Don't call us, we'll call on you

BCW caught one redtail today - it took quite a while and the bees certainly seem to be out later as the days get longer and warmer. She was caught at about 4 o'clock after quite a lot of searching. The nest-searchers were not in the usual place today but have moved a little up the road (closer to our home, which is handy!). Whether this says something about availability of sites, we don't know. 

What we are seeing more and more of every day is "fly bees": little bee-like creatures that hover and dart and fly round with their tongues out. They are pretty funny. We didn't really know they existed until we saw one the other day and investigated. It seems they are quite parasitic and spray their eggs on pollen sites so they get picked up by bees and pollinators. Cheeky!

We see them darting about the garden looking to spread their egges - so perhaps it gives us a clue where we should expect to see bees too.

We were going to try a using a tube into the nest today to see if that improved the residency time of the queen. But we were concerned the tube we had was too narrow for BB11 (Redtail) to fit through, so while trying to nest her, we immediately reverted to our usual technique. 

BB11 was quite feisty, trying to escape, and took about 15 - 20 minutes to finally make her way into the box. Neither of us like it when this happens, but we feel we have to persist, not just due to the effort in catching the bee, but also because we know we are really doing her a favour and giving her a good nest if only she'd check it out!  BB11 stayed about 20 minutes during which there was the now-typical scratching around in the box, then left. She too spiralled up away from the box. I tried to capture it on video not very successfully; we just don't know if this is part of her "landmarking".

So, disappointment that she didn't stay the night but left at about 5pm - which we were surprised by; obviously she felt she could still find somewhere to stay. The box temp (outside) was about 15 degrees at the time.

However, the exciting news was seeing two redtails nest searching on our lawn during the afternoon. Stupidly we didn't have pots ready in time to be able to catch them, but it's so encouraging that they are even coming to our garden. Again, whether this indicates an increase in demand (more bees coming out of hibernation) or a reduction in supply (good sites being taken) we don't know. The frustrating thing, of course, is they did not check out the nestbox at the back, just feet away!

Every day we are thinking carefully about how we can make the box(es) more attractive and thinking like a bee to figure out what to do.So, today we added some dried cut grass to the outside (and a little inside) to make it appear more like an entrance in a grassy bank. Ok, so it's not that realistic at the moment, but I think in the fullness of time we could practically bury the box in a mound of grass and plants that make it very realistic!

bees'-eye view of the grassy entrance

Between 4.30pm and 5.30pm we also saw two redtails nest searching in our lavender at the front. Again, a little frustration they did not find the box (although we were part way through our operation with BB11, so it wouldn't have helped) but fantastic news they are getting so close and exploring just a few feet away.

It would be wonderful to think that if we worked hard and created a perfect environment for them, we might get one nesting of its own accord. I had begun to think that we would not see them nest-searching anywhere nearby, after all it's a housing estate and we are right on the road; so I'm incredibly encouraged to see this behaviour. The second of these redtails shot across the road to a neighbour's lawn and spent about 15 mins exploring every square metre of it. Amazing to watch. BCW was poised to try and catch it, but had to avoid drawing attention to herself and in the end it proved impossible, which was a shame. Great to see though.

Meanwhile during the afternoon, I had been busy completing the irrigation system. All the supply pipes are now buried and round the edges of the garden is a pipe we can tap off wherever we put pots. A computerised timer controls the watering cycle. This means there is no limit now to the plants and pots we can buy (and where we can site them) to encourage the bees. Feeling pleased with this :)

2 up, 2 down

Another hive of activity today - and that was just us! 

The main activities were:

• catch some new bees to introduce to the nest, since BB7 and BB8
• buy a "Blue Tit Rhododenron" which we identified as being very popular with Bumbles
• check we had the ants under control (which seems the be the case) 
• try out sugar/apple sauce for its attractiveness to Bumbles (nothing conclusive to report yet)
• upgrade our automated irrigation system to cope with all the new plants
• produce a youtube video of Bee8 in her box

 First job was a trip to the garden centre to get the irrigation gear and the Rhododendron. BCW (Bee Catching Wizard) had assured me it was a perfect plant for attracting Bumblebees (even though it is not on the suggested BBCT list). Well, even as we carried it through the garden centre, we had a Bufftail land on it and take a ride.

 A Bufftail taking a ride on our RhododenronOnce home we went out bee-catching again; we are getting a feel for a good time, usually between about 2.30pm and 4pm. I'm starting to take lots of temperature readings to see whether there is a correlation between temperature levels and bee nest-searching activity. At about 3pm we were able to find two redtails quite easily (not to mention seeing one in our own garden, searching in the longer grass). 

For once I accompanied BCW and I also caught a Redtail of my own, so we came home with two together. My Redtail (BB9) looked a little more agitated so we introduced her to the front nestbox straight away, she was well behaved and went straight in without fuss. She was off camera for a while and then became visible and was scratching around and cleaning as all they all seem to do. At one point it looked like she was burying down into the bedding, but she did a circle and came back where she started!

While I kept watch BCW introduced BB10 to the back nestbox and kept watch for a while. We have no camera in that box yet, so sadly we can't really be sure what happened once we stopped looking. 

Meanwhile BB9 at the front had decided to leave quite quickly (after 20 - 30 mins). She gave the impression of another little spiral as she left - we can't really work out if this is a navigational thing or not. I'm not 100% convinced - it doesn't seem as though the bee is really taking it all in! Just a hunch :)

So BCW went off there and then to catch another bee. By now it was about 4.30. After an hour and a half she had had no luck. By this time the bees seem to be quite frantic to bed down, so even if you do see them, they are more frenzied and much harder to catch. 

Meanwhile I was working on upgrading our automated irrigation system. Phase 1 and 1.5 of this was completed some time ago, but all the new plants and the addition of the nestbox at the back has created more plants to water over a wider area than before and the old system was not capable of supporting this. The plan is to provide a main irrigation supply round all four edges of the garden, which we can then tap off at any point to water any pots, wherever they are. The water is controlled automatically and we will be adding a water butt in due course. 

Irrigation Pipe being buriedLegacy Pot-watering system around nestbox 2

We also learnt what "bee flys" were today (bombylius major) as we have been seeing lots and wanted to identify them. It's a never ending journey of education!

Putting on a show for the camera

While BB7 was still decide should she stay or should she go, BCW (Bee Catching Wizard) was already off looking for a second bee to put in the main box. It was long before she returned with a Redtail - Queen BumbleBum the 8th!

BB8 in her potAgain, like BB7 she was pretty calm, though obviously we were keen to introduce her to the nest as quickly as possible. We have found that Redtails seem generally a bit more placid and we are currently trying to find Redtails as they are also supposedly less fussy about nesting above ground. They are large and fluffy and very distinctive too!

Using the technique as Bumblebum 7 (see previous entry) she explored the pot for a few moments then wandered quite happily into the nest box. Better still, she was a real darling and wandered straight into line of sight of the box camera! All the time she was there we could see her moving around. She'd stay still for a little while, then move some of the fibres and shuffle around a bit. We dared to hope she was making a little bed for the night (like BB6 did). In fact we don't really know what she was doing with the bedding, other than keeping comfortable and keeping at the right temperature. It's possible that as she moved round from one side of the entrance to another she was moving with the sun to keep at a constant temperature - just a theory.

BB8 on the nest box camera - facing up and left

She stayed for an hour but towards the end of that it seemed obvious she was going to leave the box. She went through the same routine as BB7 - preening and cleaning and stretching herself out. She may have had to heat up too, as the outside of the box was 18 degrees, though the lid was 24 degrees. Either way, it was unlikely to be the required 30 degrees inside the box, so she would have to warm up for herself. We saw her shaking/vibrating on the video, which probably was her warming up.

BB8 on the nest box camera - now facing towards the bottom left just before leaving (stage right!)

There's something quite odd about seeing her leave the screen of the box camera and next minute emerge from the entrance, where we can see her through the window. She was in the box for at least an hour and then crept out. She did something we hadn't seen before - instead of making for the flowers or creeping onto the box she just launched into the air, but did a spiral lift-off of increasing radius. It was perhaps only 2 or 3 revolutions but we wondered if this was the navigation/observational pattern we have read about - where bees will circle, identifying landmarks and getting a handle on their position (I'll be posting a link to some research on this later). Sadly my phone was just too slow to catch this in action. 

We thought maybe this meant she would come back, but she hasn't returned for the night. That's not to say that she won't return tomorrow - we can only wait and see!

She didn't even check in!

Another day of education and intrigue. 

It was a beautiful warm day today and the bees were out and busy searching for nests. By lunchtime both our boxes were fully prepared to our satisfaction so BCW (bee-catching wizard) went off hunting.

It wasn't long before she returned with a fairly placid bufftail. We decided this should go in the box at the back, as we wanted to reserve the front box (with the camera) for a redtail - since they are a bit less fussy.

BB7

The new regime with the extended cardboard entrance works well and seems to avoid the bee getting stressed. But this little madame was either being stubborn or very slow! She refused to go into the box and simply stuck her bum in the entrance!

bb7 in the pot being encouraged into box 2

bb7 refusing to go in the box!She didn't get stressed or angsty during this, she just backed a little into the entrace and stayed put! She seemed quite happy so we removed the pot and she just stayed there. She actually stayed for about half-an-hour on the cardboard at the front of the box. 

bb7 clinging onto the front of the boxShe stayed there quite happily and I was able to get some nice pictures and video. We are still learning about this behaviour: how much of it is assessing the environment (e.g. for danger), how much is getting a sense of bearings/navigation, how much is warming up again ready for flight etc. We can only assume that if the bee is happy to stay for 30 mins or longer they do not feel in immediate peril or danger; and I think we've seen enough activity to assume they are not paralysed with some kind of shock.

Towards the end of the 30 minutes she went through a (now familiar) pattern, which looks like a very rigourous preening: cleaning head, and legs and abdomen and fluffing up and stretching out (video to follow). We couldn't stay observing her, but sometime over the next hour she left, pretty much as we expected. So this bumbling little bee never made it into the box at all! 

Not to worry, we had more excitement to come... 

Now here comes the science bit

A quiet day on the bee front today. BB6 didn't come back as I suspected. Although it was a beautiful day to start off with, by the afternoon it had clouded over, so I'm not sure there was going to be much activity anyway.

However, the was some activity from the postman - he delivered the new tech from Maplin! Always good to get new tech. Today's delivery consisted of the gear to make an infra-red spotlight (hello mr. soldering iron!) and a laser-guided infra-red thermometer. More on that in a moment. 

Infra-red floodlight kitThe idea with the floodlight kit is to light the area around the nest and allow some light to leak inside the box to help with the vision on the camera in the box, which is sensitive to infra-red. I guess if I'd been better prepared I'd have infra-red emitters mounted inside the box itself, but this is a starting point; besides we need to see if the bees object. 

If you search on the internet you can find information about what wavelengths of light bees can see; some of it is a bit mathematical. The bottom line is, basically, they don't see infra-red. Their vision is very much skewed to the Ultraviolet end of the colour spectrum and they possibly see up to 600nm (nanometres) wavelength of light. This is an orangey-red colour. 

The light I will be using is 850nm - well above the limit of their range (and indeed, humans).

There is the question of whether they will sense heat from the infra-red. I need to do more detailed research on different wavelengths, but what I discovered was that infra-red from the sun accounts for about 500w of heating per square metre of the earth. (This is about half of the 1kw of total heating that other wavelengths account for).  This floodlight will be filling an area much larger than that (perhaps 5 times) with perhaps 1W or 2W of light. Overall this is about half a percent of the Sun's energy so I feel this is safe and unlikely to affect any bees. Of course, I shall monitor it closely to confirm whether this is the case. 

It could well be that the additional heat is beneficial to them, at least on colder days; makes me wonder whether an infra-red floor in the box would be nice and toasty for them! 

Measuring the temperature

The second piece of tasty kit is the temperature sensor. Oh how I love it!

Infra-red temperature sensorThis clever device basically lets you point at an object in the distance and measure its temperature when you pull the trigger. It's amazing! It has a very rapid response time and also remembers the max temperature at the time; so you can actually sweep the room with it and easily find the max temperature. It's laser guided too, so you can accurately point it at your target. The closer you are, the smaller the area it measures of course. 

I've been testing it out and it's amazing how different surfaces and materials store and radiate heat. This afternoon, anything metal was cool, whereas the paving stones on the path were actually warmer than the ambient temperature (having stored heat while the sun was out). It seems possible to measure ambient temperature from the air although really it is designed to measure surfaces. 

I tested it against the thermometer in my room, pointing it at the surface of the thermometer and it tallied within 0.1 degrees, so I am happy and confident it is fit for purpose. 

So, what is that purpose? Well, basically I want to be able to measure and track the temperature of the nest boxes. Obvsiouly on the outside, but by pointing through the entrance hole, also potentially on the inside. This will serve a few purposes. 

• If we ever get a bee colony it will confirm the temperature they operate at (30 degrees) which will satsify my curiousity!
• Before we obvisouly get bees, we may be able to tell whether we have a queen in residence if we can detect any temperature shift. 
• I can start to correlate outdoor temperatures with the activity of the bees in general. 

All of this will add to my own body of research, even if it's all well understood by the scientific community already. As a starter I took some readings today. At the time it was 22 degrees ambient temperature, but the box was at about 17 in the shade. The path was 24 degrees and where the sun was shining on the window, it was over 30!

In fact, I was quite amazed by how variable the temperature was all around me - it just goes to show you can find heat (or cool) if you need to by moving around and finding a new place to rest (if you are a bee). I suppose this is obvious when you think about it, but it really brings it home when you actually measure. Sadly I couldn't afford a thermal imaging camera which would show this, as they start at about £3000!

Notwithstanding, this is a brilliant bit of kit!