The bumblebee queen learns how to use the protective cap in less than 24 hours.

[relet@flipping.rocks]

@Rainmaker1973

Does it help that the cap is transparent, or would it work if the entrance is hidden?

[greenskyoverme@ohai.social]

@Rainmaker1973 So cool!

[disisdeguey@expressional.social]

@Rainmaker1973 So cool. Is like "shaping" the behaviour.

[swoonie@mastodon.ie]

@Rainmaker1973 Very naive question: why is this cap needed?

[karhutar@mastodon.social]

@swoonie @Rainmaker1973 was thinking the same. Is there possibility that it gradually damages her wings/back hair

[branwen74@mstdn.social]

@Rainmaker1973 Never before in my life have I been so proud of a bumblebee.

[averagedog@mastodon.social]

@swoonie @Rainmaker1973
I guess it keeps parasites and predators outside.

[cstross@wandering.shop]

@relet @Rainmaker1973 More importantly, is the cap transparent *to the wavelengths and polarizations bumblebees see in*? (I know some/all bees see into the ultraviolet and are sensitive to polarization.)

[dm@nrw.social]

@swoonie @Rainmaker1973 +1

[bit@ohai.social]

@swoonie @Rainmaker1973

Wasps probably. Paper wasps, yellowjackets and hornets have been increasingly a problem.

There is a bit more information here:
https://beekeepercorner.com/wasps-attacking-bee-hives-causes-prevention-strategies/

[falcennial@mastodon.social]

@relet @Rainmaker1973 my guess if the other spatial markers remain the same, maybe bolstered with scent markers too (all to confirm this is the right address and promote persistence) that could work.

to habituate the bee the cover could be made progressively more opaque.

might also help if the cover had a dark dot on it the size of the hole.

a testable question!