It was supposed to be easy. Build a wooden box, put it up in the garden, and the bumble bees will move in to pollinate your plants on a daily basis. Well they haven’t arrived yet. I’m still crossing my fingers though. Or maybe I came too close with lawnmower.
I made the mistake of using raw untreated wood with no protection from the rain, so the nest box has been deformed in the bottom, which is not good.
Are there any updates (after May 22, 2009) on your trial bumble bee nest. I am curious if it was eventually inhabited and what chances you would make next time to the nest constsruction – (other than weatherproofing the wood to prevent warping, as you mentioned).
Ugly Ike
@Ugly Ike: Unfortunately no bumble bees came to stay, and eventually I scrapped the box. But I still think the design is good, although thinner wood would be sufficient, like 1 cm (0.4 cm) or something like that.
The story took a twist this year – check it out at http://happyfarming.com/2010/06/29/finding-nests-of-bumblebees/ if you haven’t already. I didn’t do anything to attract them, but they came anyway
Check out another design here: http://www.renewablesathome.com/ecology/how-to-build-a-bumblebee-nest