There's no need to destroy bumblebee nest at any time of the year. They are
very im****tant bees. I've removed a lot of them in all sorts of places.
The
essence of it involves always working at night with a deep red light. I
use
red LED bulb clusters for the most trouble free lighting source. You will
also need a special box of your own designing that goes in-line of a
shop-vac hose i.e. long hose with a tapered nozzle on one end with the
regular end attached to the top of a smallish box [there will only be
about
150 bumblebees at most] the top of this box will have two holes, one for
the
bee side hose to feed into the holding box and the other out to the
shop-vac.
I know it goes without saying but for some I will say it anyway, a screen
with a 1/8th inch mesh will cover the hole going to the shop-vac.
Not so obvious is the shape and placement of this screen. Create a low
profile dome shape elongated in a size at least three times in area to the
hole it covers. When the screen is attached it will be offset over the
hole
to allow air to keep moving but with almost no vacuum force. In the
process
of vacuuming up bees you will acquire a lot of unwanted material. Without
the reduction of vacuum at the point of air exiting the box guess what
will
happen.
For a small box like this you will need to attenuate the vacuum force at
the
shop-vac end. Shaping this same wire mesh into a form that will fit into
the
intake hole and adding an amount of fiberglass insulation to be determined
by you to produce the minimum force required to suck up one fat bumble and
gently float it into the box and no more. It is also im****tant to have
some
padding already in the holding box kapok wool or cotton is good for this.
I always use nitrile gloves the kind they sell at paint supply places with
the gauntlets secured with a strong rubber band. You're suited up and have
your adequate red light and shop-vac rig at the ready. Approach the nest
and
you will encounter the first bumble come to investigate, promptly suck it
up, that's one. Soon others will appear perhaps a lot all at once from
several places, don't panic they won't fly but they will crawl and you
will
get a few or maybe more than a few all over you but just keep reminding
yourself that at night they don't sting so much as crawl have patience and
suck each one off as it comes into view, like say, across your visor.
After you've got all the ones you can see on the outside it is time to
start
digging for the nest. It might be in a thick hedge of honeysuckle or a
pile of grass in a back alley or even a compost heap doesn't matter.
Eggs are about 1/2 inch [14-15mm] in diameter light tan to light brown
balls
of wax filled with some nectar and pollen and one bumblebee larva. These
eggs will be clumped together in clusters. There probably won't be more
than
20 or 30 arraigned in groups of four or more. You can pick these up gently
and put them in a bag for later when you transfer the bumbles to their new
residence.
I would just like to say at this point there are people who have never
done
this who nonetheless will swear that bumblebees produce honey and always
ask
me how it taste. I tell them they would have to eat a bumblebee egg to
answer that. Yet they will not give up their notions, a true story.
As you can see It's quite easy. When no more bumbles are crawling around
and you've bagged up all the egg clusters there is only one more tricky
bit,
removing the top to the containment box sup****ting the shop-vac hoses and
replacing that with a top that contains some smallish holes for
ventilation.
You will consider the best way to accommodate this procedure with practice
and your excellent design skills combined with speedy actions, a quick
shake
of the box pop off the top with the hoses followed by the ventilated top
in
one smooth motion. If you are lucky enough to have an assistant they would
come in handy at this point..well, I've never had one.
Now it's all over. You've got the bumbles and the eggs nothing left save
collecting your substantial fee.
--
CK
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