The views of the hive mind would be appreciated. At the back of our garden is an old stone wall with gaps in the mortar and overhanging vegetation . For the last two weeks at least about twenty bumble needs have been hovering around and darting at each other in a loose swarm . they don’t appear to do any thing or go anywhere . They have not been bothered by me working near them .

Any ideas what they are up to?

Making honey?

hive mind

Like 😀

They like south facing walls to live in and for the warmth- they don’t live in big colonies like honey bees, just small nests so they might have some homes in there somewhere

Ask them.

Ask them.

They’ll tell you to buzz off

Sound like it could be mason bees doing their baby making thing. We use bamboo tubes in the garden and they lay eggs in individual cells inside sealing each one in before moving to the next. Leaf cutters do similar but use bits of leaf (duh) rather than pollen to seal each cell. They’re all docile and do wonders for pollination so just leave em to it.

badgers love them. 😆

Crankygirl used Google they are some sort of introduced Forrest bee . its the males killing time until a virgin Queen turns up they occasionally get too bored frustrated or interested in soft furnishings and “bump” into an other male with an laudable bang .
Apparently their disinterest in me was my good fortune not their pacifism. They can have that corner of the garden to themselves for a couple of months .

One of our bird boxes has been taken over by bumble bees. I’m really quite happy about that as our garden could always use more pollination. At least we shoudl get a good crop of strawberries now.

Actually tree bumblebees, or Bombus hypnorum. Arrived in the UK around 2001 from continental Europe/northern Asia, frequently found in birdboxes (though ours are nesting in a stone wall). They perform ‘nest surveillance flights’ which look like a cloud of anything from 1 to more than 20 bees hovering in front of the nest without entering it. They are male drones waiting for the queens to hatch, and the behaviour can last for several weeks during May/June.

They can exhibit defensive behaviour and sting if they feel threatened by vibrations felt in the nest. They can also form large colonies of up to 300 bees in the right conditions. So best not to annoy them, and just let them bee. Sorry, couldn’t resist.

[UKIP]
Dozens of male immigrants seen loitering outside houses they may occupy en mass, and plotting to assault the first female that they see. Threats of violence if approached to break up the group.
[/UKIP]

We’ve just had a painting job done and the painter pulled off some rotten wood and accidentally disrupted a nest of bumble bees. They were certainly interested in him. Even though we have abandoned the painting job I fear it’ll be too late for the nest