SCIENCE ROUND-UP - HELPING BUMBLE BEES WITH BOMBUS NEST BOXES

There is a great deal of interest in conserving and helping wild popul ations of bumble bees as these important pollinators ave increasingly under threat, mainly through loss of habitat. Because of their commerc ial value in pollinating glasshouse crops such as tomatoes, bumble bee s are being reared on a large scale in captivity, One way that we can all help preserve our native bumble bees, on a smaller scale, is to pu t bumble bee nest boxes in our gardens, Various designs have been deve loped ranging from complex double-chambered boxes, to simple holes in the ground.