I have house martin nests at the front and back of my house that have been used regularly since I moved here 2016. I was disappointed the front one wasn't used this summer.
Over the last week I've seen bees around it! They look like bumble bees, there's rarely more than 10 at a time hanging out by the best. It also looks like the previous nest entrance hole has been blocked up or at least made very small - I certainly don't see it any more.
I'm obviously going to leave them alone for the rest of the year but unsure what to do over winter. I don't want to encourage bees back next year as 1)it's right above my bedroom window 2)i would love to have the house martins back.
My questions are:
1) as the entrance is covered and can no longer function as a house martin nest, is it OK to remove the structure and replace with an artificial one?
2)should I leave without any nest type site and provide a nest box in my apple tree (I think they must be tree bumblebees for them to nest so high and think it was apple blossom that attracted them in the first place)? I don't know if they will come back to the same spot and just move into an artificial nest!