Wooden Bumblebee Shelter

Full Description

Bumblebees are one of the most important pollinators in the garden, pollinating fruit, vegetables, flowers and herbs, but their numbers are decreasing. This recent decline in bumblebee numbers has been widely reported, so why not position a LIVE colony of bumblebees in your garden to boost their numbers and ensure pollination of YOUR plants. Bumblebees are responsible for pollinating lots of plants in your garden including runner beans, broad beans, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, sunflowers, cherries, pears, plums, apples, peaches, courgettes, marrows, pumpkins, gourds, aubergines, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and strawberries. It is better to release bumblebees to increase pollination because bumblebees visit more flowers, carry heavier loads and are active at lower temperatures than honeybees. Bumblebees also use “buzz pollination”, which helps pollinate a wider variety of plants.

The Green Gardener Bumble Bee Box contains NATIVE live bumble bees that are delivered straight to your door in a maintenance free hive that contains a queen and workers ready for release in YOUR garden. The box also contains a supply of nectar to sustain them in the short term while they get established. These Bumble Bee Boxes are NOT weatherproof and needs to be placed under cover i.e. in a greenhouse with the door / vents open OR place it inside one of our specially designed Wooden Bumblebee Shelters. They are made out of weatherproof plywood with either a flat sloping roof or choose the Deluxe version with a apex roof covered in roofing felt for added weather protection :-

Left is the Wooden Bumblebee Shelter with Bumblebees, middle is the Deluxe Bumblebee Shelter with Bumblebees and right is the Bumblebee Box.

Once in position, the bumblebee colony will survive for between 8-12 weeks during which time the population increases to many times its original size. They can be observed going about their work, as they bring pollen back to the hive through the louvered top. The Bumblebees are released through an easy to use trap door on the front, which is very safe to use PLUS it can also be used to hold bees in the hive needs to be moved i.e. if you want to move it from a greenhouse out into the garden. After 8-12 weeks the queen bee dies, but before she does, she produces young queens that will leave the hive to hibernate before establishing fresh new colonies in the local area. The whole process can then be repeated with a fresh hive. Bumble Bees are available between March and September. Delivered by courier – see courier restrictions below.

N.B. Delivery to mainland UK is included, but due to courier restrictions, we may have to charge extra to deliver to the following postcodes – AB13 – 14, AB30 – 56,DD8 – 11, G83 & 84, IV, HS, KA27 – 28, KW, PA20 – 50, PA60 – 80, PH17 – 26, PH30 – 44, PH49 – 50, ZE, GY, IM, JE,TR21 – 25, PO30 – 41. All HS, BT and ZE postcodes. For delivery to these postcodes, please email jon@greengardener.co.uk and we will get an up to date price.