The birds and the bees
Elie Gordon
Springwatch Social Producer
Britain’s bees are invading bird boxes. We’ve had numerous reports from people expressing their surprise at seeing bees flying in and out of empty and occupied boxes.
We often reply to emails and messages from you on social media, where you've reported a housing crisis in your gardens as the birds and the bees seem to be vying for the same living quarters.
Why do bees decide to make their homes in bird boxes and what can you do to prevent it?
The why is a pretty straight forward answer – bird boxes provide a readymade nesting hole, similar to those found in trees or old burrows where many species of bee take up residence, particularly the tree bumblebee. There’s plenty of space, it’s relatively dark and they’ll be protected from adverse weather conditions and predation. This has thrown up a bit of a moral dilemma for many of you. While trying to provide birds with somewhere safe to nest, many species of bee are in decline in the UK so we wouldn’t want to displace them either.
If you see bees buzzing around your bird box, we wouldn’t advise attempting to move them while they’re established. They might seem a bit intimidating but will largely cause no trouble if left to their own devices. In fact, most bees tend to look for empty boxes to start a colony in, and are unlikely to evict birds once they're in use.
However, if you don't want bees to move in the first place, then there are a few things you can do to try and prevent them from becoming resident.
- Provide bees with a home of their own. Build your own or purchase a ‘bee hotel’. There are several different types which accommodate for varying species.
- Bees are attracted to nest boxes by the small of old nesting material so clean the bird box thoroughly when it’s not in use at the end of the nesting season. Remove any remaining nesting material to attract birds to the box before bees arrive.
- Removing old nesting material has the added benefit of making boxes more suitable for birds to nest in as it removes fleas and parasites.
- Before repositioning the box, ensure that it’s well positioned for birds. Visit the RSPB website for some handy bird box tips.
