This invention relates to a nest box for bumble bees used as pollinating insects, comprising a rectangular nest box and an openable roof (6), the nest box being provided with two adjacent flight openings (7a, 7b) for bumble bees at one side wall (2) and with vents (17) in the upper and lower end, respectively, of the side walls (2; 3,5). Characteristic to the invention is that the nest box and the roof (6) are made of wood, preferably of water veneer, whereby the roof is dimensioned to extend over the side walls (2,3,4,5) forming a protecting overhang (6a) above the flight openings (7a, 7b), that inside the nest box a feeding vessel (10) covering nearly the whole basal area and covered with an intermediate floor (11), preferably made of paperboard, is placed on the bottom (1) of the nest box, whereby through said intermediate floor (11) a vertical plastic tube (13) filled with a bulking fibre material is led to extend to the bottom of the feeding vessel (10), into which fibre material a sugar solution fed into the feeding vessel (10) is absorbed in order to be reachable by the bumble bee colony housing in the box, and that on the intermediate floor (11) a flat edged paper board base (4) has been installed, on which a pollen ball (15) and cocoons (16), other embryonic cocoons or an artificial comb have been placed. The invention relates also to a method for continuous breeding of pollinating bumble bees in connection with indoor or outdoor plant production.
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