According to the book "Befriending Bumblebees" by Elaine Evans, Ian Burns, and Marla Spivak, the bumblebee you have is Bombus bifarius and is a good candidate for rearing among western bumblebees. Bumblebees nest in holes in the ground, and piles of grass or leaves. Ive seen nests in holes in the side of a shed and down in holes in the side of foundations.
The book mentioned above tells how you can raise bumble bees. I bought a copy just because it's very interesting reading It's available at 1-800-876-8636 or at the link below

Here is a link that might be useful: http://shop.extension.unm.edu/