Foxgun Tom 75 Posted August 14, 2009 Report Share Posted August 14, 2009 Your right my eyesight is getting worse and my brain is slowing up instead of reading steph's profile I went straight to a research paper on the net about bumblebees and information I'd allready seen on the bbc regarding the same apologies too everyone and steph Tom Ps: anyone know of a good home for a dementia sufferer who wears a foxmask sporran???? Having received a pm from the lad and done a wee bit of research on my own I do believe him to be genuine individual studying bumblebees, He was under the misconception that a majority of pest controllers would have no compassion for the wee fuzzy bombers and would kill them and destroy their nests and he'd be able too benefit from the pest controllers work, it was as simple as that nothing sinister Tom I can smell a rat, something not right with that Ahem ..FT I enjoy your posts and your undoubted knowledge is an obvious reflection of years nae decades of the love of your sport and the countryside...............HOWEVER, there may be a trip too specsavers needed here as Steph is not a bloke ................. mind you, you may be from Milngavie Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RicW 67 Posted August 14, 2009 Report Share Posted August 14, 2009 I research bumblebees at Stirling University and the experiment I'm currently carrying out requires me to find, dig up and kill bumblebee nests for later dissection and analysis. I know some folk on here are pest controllers, and wondered if people contact you to remove bumblebee nests from their gardens, etc.? If so, would you be willing to either give me the dead nests, or let me go and dig them up myself to help with my research? Ideally north of Glasgow and Edinburgh, Stirling, Perthshire, Dundee, and Angus ay would be great. Thanks, steph It's obvious the lass is cool. I am at Sussex University which has just started the first B.Sc in bee-keeping! So I'm gonna get off the thread a bit . . .Has anyone seen a Violet Bumblebee? Apparently they are nigh on 2 inches long, look really mean and don't have stings! I want one! On a lead! Can you imagine walking into a pub with a 2 inch long beedlebum on your shoulder? You'ld get served pronto methinks . . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
macberran 2 Posted August 14, 2009 Report Share Posted August 14, 2009 Or decked. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RicW 67 Posted August 14, 2009 Report Share Posted August 14, 2009 Or decked. Yeah. Be great wouldn't it. Walk in, yer old mate slaps ye on the shoulder and kills yer furry buddy. On the other hand how about a leopard bat? 4ft wingspan and a lot of very sharp teeth :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
claybusers al 9 Posted August 15, 2009 Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 as usual folk jump at the unknown, we need bees of all types and if what steph does may help us understand whats going wrong, then shouldnt some help and credit go out to her for asking the folk that are on the frontline for assistance so instead of having a go give out some assistance Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dpb82uk 138 Posted August 15, 2009 Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 can you not get a queen bee and keep them and start a nest off im no expert but im shur people have learnt moor from living things than dead Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RicW 67 Posted August 15, 2009 Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 can you not get a queen bee and keep them and start a nest off im no expert but im shur people have learnt moor from living things than dead Sadly, no. This might work with honey bees but bumble bees have a different mating pattern. Rather than starting a new colony immediately the fertilized queen hibernates through the winter and only starts a new nest the following spring. Having re-read Steph's posts, I think that what she needs for her research are dead nests, not dead bees. That is, nests which have been abandoned because the founding queen has died of mere old age, and her offspring have spread to start their own nests. Bumble bee nests are only occupied for one year, while honey bee nests/hives can last for many years. Just to complicate the issue further, wood ants, which are closely related to bees, can occupy the same nest for up to 30 years! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
StephOC 6 Posted August 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Thank you for vouching for me Sighthound. And Foxgun Tom, thanks too. (Nae mind thinking I was a guy~It's a new one for me!) RicW, you know your stuff. Many have tried rearing bumblebee colonies, but very few suceed, which is a great shame. Has the Violet bee crossed the channel..? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RicW 67 Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Thank you for vouching for me Sighthound. And Foxgun Tom, thanks too. (Nae mind thinking I was a guy~It's a new one for me!)RicW, you know your stuff. Many have tried rearing bumblebee colonies, but very few suceed, which is a great shame. Has the Violet bee crossed the channel..? Steph Truth to tell, I don't know. The Independent recently ran a series on bumblebees, and said that there are a few colonies of Violets in the south of England which could be self-sustaining, but they look so scarey that people tend to swat first and think later. I just want to meet one! I can send bumblebees to sleep on the back of my hand and I'd love to try that with a big furry purple swarm. . . . Ric Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RicW 67 Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 Thank you for vouching for me Sighthound. And Foxgun Tom, thanks too. (Nae mind thinking I was a guy~It's a new one for me!)RicW, you know your stuff. Many have tried rearing bumblebee colonies, but very few suceed, which is a great shame. Has the Violet bee crossed the channel..? Steph Truth to tell, I don't know. The Independent recently ran a series on bumblebees, and said that there are a few colonies of Violets in the south of England which could be self-sustaining, but they look so scarey that people tend to swat first and think later. I just want to meet one! I can send bumblebees to sleep on the back of my hand and I'd love to try that with a big furry purple swarm. . . . Ric UPDATE! I have just read that Violet Carpenter Bees are thriving in the Channel Islands! They are on their way . . . Roll on global warming! Ric Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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