Bee Hotels, Hygiene and Maintenance 29/8/18 Cumbria Wildlife Trust
George Pilkington from Nurturing Nature will teach us all about bee hygiene, why bug hotels are great for bugs but bee homes need their own space. George will teach us all about his specially designed boxes for bumblebees and solitary bees.
Workshop Topics
The full-day workshop, besides including the above details, also stressed that the popular Bug Hotels, Insect Houses, Beneficial Insect Houses etc., as found in many garden centres, or built in many parks, nature reserves, etc., and Bee Hotels do not mix. Believe me, I have seen some stunning designs here and in Europe, which has obviously taken some time and imagination to construct and probably some expense too. Readily bought ones look very effective and aesthetically pleasing. However, as far as some solitary bees are concerned, it would be better if insect/bug hotels were kept totally separate. Alarm bells should ring when you see door knobs, pine cones, wood shavings and a whole shed load of other totally unsuitable components placed inside it.
‘Hands-on’ observation of wax moth larvae
A few simple questions
When making or buying a Bug/Insect Hotel, a few simple questions can be asked. For example, What do you wish to attract? What may you attract? Why are you making/buying it? Of course, there are many more questions that can be asked. Educational and fun as they can be, indeed I have made some myself, there are many factors to consider, many of which can easily be to the detriment of any solitary bees using such a structure. Solitary Bee nest boxes are a very useful tool for researchers, educational purposes, agricultural purposes and can engender a great deal of public interest. If we attract them to use a nest box, let’s protect them and stop them from being used as a nursery for pests and disease.
Wild Bee Keepers
The provision of solitary bee nest boxes, where solitary bees live inside for the vast majority of their lives, implies that people wish to help solitary bees and therefore are by default, wild beekeepers if they want to be. Honey beekeepers provide a nest box, (hive) and forage/food for their bees, then manage them to keep them healthy, living in a clean environment and out of harms way from pests and diseases. Likewise, I do the same for the wild bees living their life in any of my nest boxes. This workshop covered these aspects, by detailing designs and management techniques to minimise the negative effects on the bee population that uses them and the fact that with the right design, harmless predatory solitary wasps can also use them.
Making a bumblebee nest box fit for a queen!
Well done Cumbria Wildlife Trust!
I was very grateful for being asked to give the workshop and congratulate Tanya and Lucy of the Cumbria Wildlife Trust for asking me to deliver it. It shows that at long last the message about Bee Hotels is starting to get through to some people. It shows, in this case, they have thought about this issue and wanted to learn more in regards to the potential pitfalls as part of their “Coastlines: The Cumbria Coast Pollinator Project.” I do hope that more organisations will contact me for a similar workshop.
What have we here?
Workshop Comments
“We were delighted with the ‘Train the Trainer – wild bee nesting box, hygiene and maintenance course’ that George Pilkington from Nurturing Nature Ltd. delivered to our staff, partner organisations and members of the local community. The day was highly informative with George sharing valuable specialist knowledge and expertise in a fun and engaging way, with rare video footage of the different bee species and the parasites that prey upon them. This coupled with practical demonstrations really helped us to understand the different behaviours and requirements of bees, and the maintenance needed to ensure good hygiene of wild bee nest boxes – never to be confused with bug hotels!”
Tanya St. Pierre, Coastlines Development Manager, Cumbria Wildlife Trust
A selection of comments from attendees
SB George was extremely knowledgeable and happy to share or answer any questions
AT Everything – totally engrossing and hugely informative
GH New ideas for boxes, good ideas for dissertation
RB Videos and insights into bee ecology, interesting tutor
RM Good speaker – kept us engaged, Spreading valuable specialist knowledge
JA Really eye-opening to the world of bees
If you would like a similar workshop, please contact me
To point you in the right bee identification direction I can 100% recommend Steven Falk’s Field Guide to Bees of Great Britain and Ireland.
Thanks to Lucy Graham CWT for the photographs
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