Bumblebees are important pollinators in our garden. With their work, they provide plenty of fruit and vegetables. Because of their long proboscis, they can visit long and narrow calyxes that bees cannot reach. To attract bumblebees to beds, a bumblebee nest can be built from a flower pot.

Bumblebees like to nest in flower pots

The habitat for bumblebees

In nature, bumblebees can be found in tree cavities, in cavities between bricks or in burrows in meadows. They are always as close as possible to fruit trees, berry bushes, clover or kitchen herbs. To give them a nesting aid and thereby lure them into flower beds or the vegetable garden, a bumblebee nest can be built from simple materials.

Build a house for bumblebees

There are different variants here. Those who want to spend little time build an above-ground bumblebee nest from a flower pot. This should be filled with some straw or dry moss as nesting material and then buried at an angle in the ground so that no rainwater can drip through the hole into the nest. A board above the flower pot also keeps rainwater back. An entry aid for the bumblebees, for example, are some large pebbles that are placed around the pot. Bumblebees like to crawl into their nest.

A nest box underground

This is an elaborate variant with several pots. Build the box as follows:

  1. Take two large flower pots and insert a piece of tubing through each bottom hole (the tunnel passage for the bumblebee inside).
  2. Fasten the tube light and watertight with adhesive tape that sticks well.
  3. Drill three holes on one side of each of the two pots (will be used later to drain rainwater and condensation).
  4. Glue the holes from the outside with fine netting (pantyhose or fly netting). So no parasites can get in.
  5. Put a small, sieve-like pot (found when planting in ponds) in both pots and fill one with nesting material.
  6. The hose from the large pot is also inserted into the sieve pot and fastened on the inside.
  7. If possible, connect the large opening of the strainer pots using a cable tie.
  8. Now place the large flower pots with the openings on top of each other.
  9. Seal the joint with strong tape.
  10. Bury the pan box lying down so that only the two ends of the hose look out as entrances.

Category:

Animals in the garden