# What to do with bumble bee houses



## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

It depends on which species was living in the house. Once the colony produces its queens/drones the workers are really of no use so it wont be long before the colony is empty, but as to what time of year that happens depends on what kind of bumble it was. I usually wait until early winter to dig mine up and clean them out because by then any species of bumble bee (around here) will have produced its queens and those queens in turn will have mated and will be hibernating elsewhere. What Im trying to say is if she knows the life cycle of her specific bumbles, she should be able to remove the boxes after the queens and drones have left. If mice inhabited her houses, and she plans on not using them again, I personally would burn them (because of hanta virus, dunno if its a problem in upstate NY). I wear a respirator when i empty mine but I re-use them until they rot out. As to what to do with the old houses other than dispose of them, I really don't have a clue. Someone else might have a better suggestion on that issue than I can give. Hope this helped a little inch:


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## iahawk (May 19, 2009)

Thanks. I sent this info on to my daughter. She MIGHT know what particular bee they are, since she ordered them. I don't know if hanta is a concern, but my guess is she has good access to that info through Cornell U.
Thanks again.


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## robo mantis (Aug 8, 2011)

Glad i found this haha! I keep bumbles. The species commercially sold in USA is Bombus impatiens. Its very common. At this time of the year they should be almost done. Queens are leaving and hibernating. To dispose of the nests ONCE the bees are gone. You should burn the nestbox and wax to prevent disease. The bumble bees will naturally leave and do their thing. Just burn all the gear after. What study was she doing on them?


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## iahawk (May 19, 2009)

Thanks, Robo. I'll pass this along as well. Actually, I live in Iowa but we are currently on our way to upstate NY to see our daughter. Perhaps I'll get to go out and see some of her hives. She is doing research on pollination of pumpkins, comparing yields from plants by bumble bees, honey bees and non-supplemented (natural, from native bees). Hopefully she will find the hives pretty empty, since she only has a certain time slot to utilize her help crew. Looks like burning would be a good way to go.
thanks again,
Jim


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## robo mantis (Aug 8, 2011)

You should for sure take pictures! I would love to see!


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## iahawk (May 19, 2009)

I'll try to do that. I do know she used 3 wood pallets, building a kind of A-frame shelter for the hives and she has to dispose of all those as well. If she hasn't collected them by the time we get there mid-week I'll see if I can't get out and will take some photos.


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