Bees in Oregon 2026

RE: Bees in Oregon 2026

beacon_dave — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 19:09:53 GMT

Some photos of new visitors to the garden here.

Either the bumblebees have started shaving their abdomens to stay cool in this hot weather, or I've perhaps got carpenter bees.

I've got some new heathers coming into flower, so it will be interesting if I get any Heath bumblebees stopping by to check them out.

RE: Bees in Oregon 2026

beacon_dave — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 18:47:30 GMT

Significant drop in bumblebee activity here this week. Currently in the middle of a heatwave which will be stressing out the nests as the outdoor temperature exceeds the 32°C upper limit. Workers will likely be stuck indoors fanning the nest to try and cool it down as opposed to out foraging for nectar and pollen.

The Allium Sphaerocephalum are starting to come into flower, hopefully will give a boost over Summer.

RE: Bees in Oregon 2026

beacon_dave — Sat, 30 May 2026 19:52:16 GMT

There have been lots of Buff Tailed bumblebees visiting here the past couple of days. I was out planting some new heathers earlier and the bees were everywhere. There is at least one healthy nest nearby.

RE: Bees in Oregon 2026

beacon_dave — Tue, 26 May 2026 20:16:58 GMT

A few snapshots from this afternoon.

A bit of nectar robbing going on

Spot the hitchhiker

Pollen baskets or saddlebags ?

RE: Bees in Oregon 2026

ralphjy — Sun, 03 May 2026 21:21:58 GMT

[mention:43d2c3e8825e4123967cacd2bb7a769b:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] thought you might like this video - Mason bees have been pretty active now the weather is dry and warmer (around 30C today).

[View:/cfs-file/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-74268e92-d081-417d-a555-5e07632cca17/Mason-Bees-2026.mp4:640:360]

My wife mentioned to me that they were buzzing her today while she was weeding, so I took the opportunity to get a video. My idea of using an IP camera to monitor the bees didn't pan out. I'm having some WiFi issues with the camera, so it's been hard to record streaming video. The motion detection also doesn't work well with the bees, but it does great with birds and squirrels [emoticon:752f32bcc91d4a448db162742a877a4a].

I did see a spider on the bee house. Not sure if it was causing problems but I cleared it out.

RE: Bees in Oregon 2026

ralphjy — Fri, 01 May 2026 23:39:46 GMT

Still trying to figure out the mystery of the bumblebee nest. Bumblebees don't dig their own nest cavities, so the question is what animal created this nest. Bumblebees frequently make their nests in abandoned rodent nests, so I suspected that this might have been one that was left by a Creeping Vole which is like a small field mouse and is known to inhabit this region in the Willamette Valley. The voles are also known to make nests in tree roots. Unfortunately, a vole tunnel normally has a larger diameter (20-25mm) compared to the 12-15mm hole that I found. I remember that we actually had voles in the lawn a few years ago and the holes were slightly larger. Vole holes do not have the .large mounds of dirt that you get with moles.

While I was pondering this thought, I was walking the dogs in a forested area about a mile from our house. I saw a bumblebee flying around the base of a large pine tree and when I went to check, I found a very similar hole in the ground.

Maybe one day I'll figure it out... In the meantime, I'll just enjoy the bumblebees like this one in the Azalea bush this afternoon.

RE: Bees in Oregon 2026

DAB — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:38:19 GMT

Nice update.

Everything in Ohio is about 3 weeks ahead of normal.

I have plants blooming, bees buzzing, I even put on shorts last week.

RE: Bees in Oregon 2026

beacon_dave — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 21:19:46 GMT

Have you checked under your bicycle saddle lately ?

"Swarm of 10,000 bees settles on bike outside Louvre in Paris"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70vjx99w2vo

RE: Bees in Oregon 2026

beacon_dave — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 15:20:47 GMT

Awesome find. What would you say the diameter of that nest entrance hole was ?

Apparently they quite often make use of abandoned mouse nests, however I've never spotted one of these either.