mason bee homes (which is best)
lostman
19 years ago
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mtnbkr
19 years agohemnancy
18 years agoRelated Discussions
Talk about mason bees
Comments (12)Thanks! I've always like bees but this new hobby-I can see it already-is going to make me more of a bee guy than ever. Like I said, there are huge numbers of bumblebees present at that site. It's just the very early season I must ensure. Do the big guys plant any other early-flowering plants in and around their haskap to aid and assist the bumblebees in this early-season timeframe? That's something I've been considering. When I mostly see them, it's the late-summer asters, goldenrods. etc. I wonder what pollinates Canada anemone flowers. I should look that up. we've got a ton of that plant growing around there, and it, of course, is a very early bloomer. +oM ps....OK, just looked it up....Canada anemone is visited by Halictid and Andrenid bees, and by Syrphid flys, so presumably, these little guys are doing the pollination. Not at all sure what role they might play with haskap blooms....See MoreMason bee systems - different styles, good and bad
Comments (50)This is a fantastic thread and thank you to all of the contributors! I find mason bees fascinating. I would like to expand my mason bee housing, I only started last year. I have a couple of questions for DIY houses. I think I would like to go the paper tube route. It seems parchment paper seems to work perhaps better than brown paper bag? I have bags but easily can buy a roll of parchment if it fairs better with moisture (pacific north west). Drilling hole size if I used a solid wood block: If I use parchment, do I drill 5/16" still. With paper bag, do I drill 3/8" as the paper takes up space or still go 5/16". I am going to buy a long drill bit (about 16") and use my drill press to get deep holes. Don't really want to buy 2 bits :) . My other option is to rip 5/16" square grooves in 1" think boards and then line with tubes. The tubes will prevent the spread of mites etc between wood layers correct? This is far faster for me (rip the grooves vs. drilling a solid block) and I already have the dado blade and table saw, as well as the wood. Comments and suggestions greatly appreciated!...See MoreMason Bee Harvest report 2010: Four different nesting systems
Comments (7)Echoes: 1) Height or width of the overall house isn't very important for the average residential gardener. What -is- important is tube diameter and the presence of orienting marks for the bees, like colored straw tips, or patches of color, or a few straws sticking out further than the rest. These bees like irregular surfaces with lots of identifying marks. They can see blue, yellow, green, and black. 2) Ideal placement is where 1) it will get sun in the morning to help the bees warm up for flight and 2) It's protected from weather. I live in Seattle and place my bees on the south side of the house because they get the most sun there (7 hours during the warmer part of the day) Our storms in Seattle come in from the south, so that also means the houses are exposed to a lot of rain and wind, which 1) encourages them to disperse (fly away and not return to nest there.) and 2)creates great moist conditions for pollen mites. That was a bad idea last spring, which was cold and wet and windy. This year I'm placing some houses on the south side of the house and some on the east side to see which perform best. The east side gets five hours of sunlight during a colder part of the day. For the ones on the south side, if we're in for stormy weather, I have two options: 1) build a more protective roof over each house or 2) Take the entire house (bees and all) and put it in a bag in the fridge for about 24 hours. SARE's guide to Alternative Pollinators says you can do this for up to five days with no harm to the bees. We'll see how that idea works out. :-)...See MoreBuild a Mason Bee Box in your Yard
Comments (3)Nice write-up CB! I'm a vegetable gardener and bees are always welcome. I'm afraid I'm a little late for this Spring, based on your dates. Maybe next year. Best regards, Rick...See Morejmacak
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