Bumble bee Colony & Hive

[HJBee]

Hi

Anyone seen this?
http://dragonfli.co.uk/bees/beepol-villa

Being promoted by the Wildflower seed companies.

HJ

[gavin]

I have now! The ultimate gift from the point of view of the supplier: it only has a life of a few months. Looks nice though, with the usual commercial box inside.

Nowhere can I see where these colonies are raised. The commercial ones used in fruit farming are raised abroad and people worry about the pathogens spread by them.

[Silvbee]

It'll be in the Netherlands Gavin (although there are now some UK producers). The main problem with bumble bee colonies even when native bees are used (which many are not) is, as you identified the spread of pathogens. Bees from the facilities that rear vast quantities of colonies typically have higher infection rates than would be experienced in the wild. They then go on to spread these pathogens with their wild living cousins. Reminds me of another species of bee we all like...

[Maybee]

What next?