Once upon a time on usenet ~misfit~ wrote:
Once upon a time on usenet Derald wrote:
[snipped]
A casual Google search hit on several online sources here in the
States, all selling Bombus bees under the same brand name (Natupol).
Although all provide instructions for use, none of them advises how
to maintain a viable local bee population. Why would that be, one
wonders....


Probably because bumble bee nests are short-lived, a season at most.
However it's possible to bone up on all things bumble bee and make
(or purchase) excelleny nesting sites and encourage (or capture) new
young queens and establish new nests.

Here are a couple of links to sites I found on bumble bees and their life
cycle;

http://www.bumblebee.org/lifecycle.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Bumblebee#p007vh74

I hope the second one is avaiable to you there, it's quite interesting with
some video material.
--
Shaun.

"Humans will have advanced a long, long way when religious belief has a cozy
little classification in the DSM*."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)
(*Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)