A NewTube Phenomenon (Part 2)

After "losing" the two previous redtails during the night we decided we would persevere with our "new tube" strategy today, but avoid sealing the bees in from now on (even for a short time). It was a hot day again today so we left our hunting until later in the evening. BCW had been unsuccessful, but as I was on the way out to meet her I decided to wander along the ditch at the side of the field, just to try a slightly new tactic. 

As per usual I was giving up hope having only seen one bee zooming across the field on the way home. At that moment I saw a bufftail nest hunting in the embankment and I was able to catch her!

We have learnt that we now have to be looking out for Cuckoo bees and make sure we get a proper Queen, so I was very careful to try and examine her. I also took a photo so that I could check after the fact too.

 Bb23 - bufftail; small and cuteWe are pretty confident this is the real deal and not a cuckloo bee. The band across the abdomen is an indicator and it looks as though the legs are correct: i.e. long hairs on the upper parts with a smoother "pollen basket". In contrast the cuckoos have more-uniform, shorter hairs on their legs, because they don't carry pollen. 

Our strategy for introduction to the nest box is the same as before: using the pot directly against the entrance until the bumble climbs in. However, instead of leaving it at that, our latest technique is to add a length of tubing (about 10 cm) into the entrance (on the outside). We have proven the bees can get down this tube ok. The reasoning behind this technique is to try and trick the bee into thinking it is going further underground than it is. Some suggestions we have seen say the tube should be inside the box, but we have avoided this for the sake of our cameras, so it's a bit of a compromise. Also, of course, our bee will only get to experience the tube on the way our, rather than on the way in: so we don't know if it will have any useful effect.  

We also made another adjustment tonight, which was to tape a pen-lid full of honey-water inside the box. I wanted to see if having access to some sustenance would encourage BB23 to stay longer and whether she would even bother to try drinking from it. 

She took about 15 - 20 minutes to go into the box and, unlike many of the other bees, headed straight for the back upper corner of the box, near where I had put the honey-water. In fact, she seemed to pause over this momentarily, maybe she did actually take a drink. Rather frustratingly she settled somewhere higher up in the box, behind camera 2, where there is no visual coverage! Just our luck. But we could hear a bit of scratching on and off and she was very placid.

Within about 30 minutes she'd stopped making any noise, so to the best of our knowledge she is still in the box! (The advantage of box 1 with the two cameras is that the entrance is much better covered and it would be hard for her to leave without us getting visual confirmation. This is a good thing as in low light the end of the new tube is hard to see, since we have disguised it within some grass.)

The difference in behaviour is quite different to what we saw when the entrance is sealed, and it is immediate. That is to say, it's not as if the bee tries to find the exit then satisfies herself it's unblocked, but just seems to immediately know this is the case; almost instinctively.  At this stage we can only surmise that the levels of light (even if low) and perhaps slightly cool air coming through the tube are sufficiently detectable and relevant to her. 

BB23 has also shown a different behaviour to other bees introduced to an unblocked box, in that she has gone much further from the entrance, rather than staying very close to it. Only tomorrow will tell if this means anything significant. Meanwhile we hope she is having a lovely slumber. 

A NewTube phenomenon (part 1)

Well, you can't rest when it comes to bee conservation! I didn't have time to report yesterday, so  there is a bit more to write today, and it's been a very interesting two days with some significant new learning; so it's in two parts. 

Starting with yesterday; we managed to each catch a redtail bumblebee within about 30 minutes of each other. (Am I now officially a Junior BCW?) It had been a hot day, possibly hottest of the year, about 10 degrees above the normal average so we left it later to go hunting. It's funny how the bee searching goes: we're not seeing as many now (except for cuckoo bees emerging) and I get a bit disheartened that we've run out of time to find a queen that hasn't nested yet.

And then, usually when we've given up and are walking home we'll see one random bee, probably thinking the same as us, just giving up and going home! And we pounce. This strategy works on several levels (in our heads, at least):

1. if we bring them to the box earlier in the day, there's a greater chance they will just leave immediately and carry on their daily business
2. we are genuinely trying to be as kind as possible to the bee - so if it is near to the time when it needs to bed down safely, we are offering excellent overnight accomodation!

Anyway, I digress. Prior to catching the redtails (BB21 & BB22) we had agreed on a new strategy. For a second day we were going to seal the entrance for a few hours to see if they would stay in the box longer; but we were going to add about 10cm of tubing to the entrance to simulate "going underground", hoping this might be more of a convincer. We were also going to unseal the pipe after dark, assuming the bee would be asleep, cover it in a bit of grass (such that the bee could burrow out if necessary) and see whether this made any difference to behaviour the next day. So, that's what we did.

The behaviour we observed was both new and fascinating and, interestingly pretty much identical for both bees.

Unlike the cuckoo bee of the day before, when these two red tails were introduced to the box they were darting around the box, clearly looking for the exit which we had sealed. Of course, we can never know whether a bumblebee feels truly "anxious" or whether it is simply following a pre-programmed reaction - it's own system of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (assuring security). Of course, we don't deliberately want to stress the bee, so if we felt it was excessive and entirely undue we would let the bee go. However, we know that the bees do settle down and also it is not our default strategy to seal the box; we were doing it specifically as a piece of learning. 

It was fascinating to be able to compare two redtails simultaneously. The bee in the front box searched the box, but then calmed down relatively quickly and just mooched around a bit. In contrast the bee in the back nestbox (essentially in identical conditions) was far more active and feisty, with a lot more buzzing for a lot longer. Within about an hour they were both fairly still and quiet and we assumed they were going to sleep as BB20 had done the night before. 

By this time is was dark, although fairly warm at 16 degrees ambient temperature (presumably much more inside the box) so we carried out the next part of our plan which was to unblock the tube in the entrance and semi-seal it with grass. We did this at about 45 minute intervals, but in both cases we were amazed to see the redtail emerge within about 30 seconds of us doing so, even in the darkness.  We confirmed they were safe; in the case of the front box she wandered along the outside of the tube and then into the grass around the box. 

I was happy this was sufficient for the bee to be safe overnight given past observations, having seen them sleep under the box roof and under a heather pot! So, we let them bee! There was no sign of them in the morning.

We were both astounded by this behaviour having not seen it before, so I think we take away a few learning points from this:

• the bees do get agitated when the box is sealed and (from other observations) it seems to be the case they instantly know whether the box is sealed or not - we are still figuring out how they do
• the vestal cuckoo bee from the night before was placid and just quietly went to sleep, unlike these two redtails. Perhaps that is a difference between the bee types: it makes sense that the cuckoo bee would be quiet and stealthy and hang around to see what goes on inside the box. In contrast, the proper queens are more concerned to find a safe location
• if the bee is not happy with its location it will even be prepared to come out into the dark to get 'safe' (whatever that means in bee world)

Needless to say, we are not planning to seal the box again - the experiment is over and showed that it offers no benefit in terms of encouraging the bee to stay (arguably the opposite). We can't of course comment on the success or otherwise of the new tubing, other than we can confirm that the bees can traverse it safely. 

Into the Unknown

The day started with great anticipation, coming down early to see what BB19 was upto. At about 8.45am we heard a bit of scratching and very low dull buzzes. This continued in small bursts for about 30 minutes. Then we went silent for an hour. By this time BCW had to stop observing the camera.

By the time BCW came back, BB19 had gone! It's pretty much what we expected. We had unblocked the nest and just loosely filled the entrance with grass during the night, so that BB19 was free to burrow out when she wanted. Aside from being the kindest thing for her, we hoped that the grass in the entrance would "explain" why the box seemed blocked the night before. Of course, this might be way beyond the average comprehension or memory of a bee, but we don't really know :-) Also, she'd get the sense that the nest entrance was fairly secure, which might be encouraging to her. Anyway, she buzzed off and hasn't been seen today!

It was a very warm day today, so we were able to leave it later to go out bee-hunting. BCW had discovered a new spot with lots of Carder bees, although they were foraging for pollen high up in some tree blossom, so not suitable for catching. However, it is a new location to add to our catchment area. As we were heading there she spotted a bumble (BB20) .diving down into the nearby grass and, of course, being a bee-catching-wizard she managed to catch it in the pot. It was about 6.30pm 15 degrees or so, so a good time to be bedding down. 

BB20 - unrecognised species at time of writing 

We didn't really recognise the bee so were a bit concerned it was a cuckoo bee - but we just couldn't be sure. One of the confusing elements is the 3 apparent stripes on the tail: Buff, White and Buff. She is quite long and thin rather than plump. And we couldn't be 100% sure she had pollen baskets on her back legs. In the interests of time we decided I would take the bee anyway and try and nest her while BCW carried on looking. I brought her to the front box; she was placid on the walk home but more agitated when I tried to nest her. In the end she took 30 minutes to go into the box, which must have been quite tiring. 

Once she went into the nestbox she was very calm. She didn't do burrowing or cleaning behaviour but just did a few revolutions of the box. She didn't even appear to try and find an exit (unlike BB19 last night). After less than 5 minutes she just bedded down on top of the bedding at the far end of the box and went to sleep in full view! 

BB20 in dreamland!

We've looked at the identification sheet from the bumblebee conservation trust and can't find one that matches tonight's guest; so that's something we need to follow up. 

UPDATE:

using the guide from the natural history museum (see our Bee Links) we are confident this is in fact a Vestal Cuckoo bee - i.e. a Bufftail Mimic that would try to take over a genuine bufftail nest. Obviously there is no way she would stay in an unoccupied box. Nor do we want her hanging around to do so! We 

Sleeping Beauty

I wasn't at home today, but BCW was holding the fort and later in the afternoon went bee hunting. She first caught a bufftail and took it to the back nestbox. Prior to this we'd discussed putting something in the box to try and tempt the Queens to stay in there, such as some bee pollen. So BCW had done that inside an upturned bottle-top, with some netting across it. 

It seems BB18 was keen to explore this pollen and showed quite an interest in it, exploring it and getting a bit covered in it. Intially, perhaps, this gave signs of being a positive move. Then she seemed to go a bit beserk about it and basically shot out of the box and away, without any circling or landmarking at all :-(

We discussed this afterwards and concluded that perhaps the pollen in the nest gave the impression another bee was already resident. Or maybe she just got too covered in it and it freaked her out somehow. Either way, she was not hanging around!

I arrived home almost simultaneosly with BCW bringing home a second bufftail (BB19) - again, a very bright and vibrant specimen and extremely placid. We took a decision to try the rear nestbox again. Now that we have an infrared camera in there that we can see on the main TV it's pretty convenient to monitor. And it's a quieter box in a more peaceful setting. And we haven't really tried it much to date because we couldn't monitor it. So all in all it seemed like a good idea to try. We removed the pollen that caused BB18 to desert and BB19 went into the box quite happily.

BB19 - bufftail

It was about 6.30pm - a time when she would probably be thinking about bedding down and also a time when we wouldn't really be able to find another bee, so we decided to temporarily block the entrance to keep her in there till it was a bit cooler and darker and so she would stay the night. 

It's fair to say we are quite equivocal about the strategy of trapping the bee in the box, even for a short time. We did this to begin with (as advised) and it appeared to have no beneficial effect. And, we felt that maybe it caused the bee more stress and more likelihood of not feeling the box was the right environment; so we really did dither over this decision. However, we knew we were doing her a favour in terms of a safe, dry, warm place to stay overnight and that to allow her to try and go find somewhere else in the wild at that time of night was probably not fair.

For the first hour it did seem like she was hunting every nook and cranny of the box to try and find the exit. It was quite a bitter-sweet sensation: a certain amusement in her behaviour, zigzagging around the nestbox, but a certain pang of guilt that we might be causing her some stress :-(  I didn't know a Bumblebee could cause such emotions! 

Once the light had faded and temperature dropped a little we decided to unblock the entrance and cover it with some grass. Our logic was as follows:

• we'd seen her burrowing around in the bedding in the nestbox with great ease, so the idea was to give her a chance to burrow out of the box tomorrow morning of her own accord
• the grass will keep a lot of light out but will probably allow some of the morning sun through, giving her an indication of where the exit is
• we're hoping that by giving her the chance to exit herself she will be less concerned that the box is unsuitable (ideally she'd think "Oh, Silly me, why didn't I realise this grass had just fallen and blocked the entrance", but I think that's unlikely)

As with all the exploits to date we are just experimenting and observing, experimenting and observing - hopefully adding to the body of knowledge of Bumblebees (well, our own anyway!) At the time of writing she is very peaceful and still, our of camera shot, buried under a load of bedding, but presumably sound asleep. 

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!