Mrspaul, Sorry to disappoint but I'm not sure I'm familiar with the insect you're speaking about. Because of the nature of this forum (and all the other bee experts here), I try to be very careful in my interruption of certain terms. Perhaps you mean these terms to be more "generic" than how I'm reading them. For instance, at least with regard to honeybees (Apis), I tend to ascribe to the school of thought that the north American continent did not have any "native" honeybees (again, with respect to Apis) before they were brought from Europe - so maybe you're using 'native' in relative terms rather than a strict meaning? And black honeybee, means to me the native bee of northern Europe (Germany, England, etc.). But if you're only describing the actual colour of the bee, then perhaps you're just speaking of the race of Apis known as Caucasians (a dark grey, sometimes called 'black'). In any case, I tend to favor two things: "natural" and "low maintenance" (especially in wild habitat areas). While I'm sure Apis would do fine in your area, they're not completely maintenance free. And since you're not interested in collecting honey or beeswax or pollen, then I see no good reason to select traditional honeybees (and incur the related expense of hive woodenware and maintenance costs). That's about the only thoughts I have on the matter.

Can you break off some of the grass tops and stick behind them. I bring bouquets in each fall and put it in a tall vase on the floor. Wish you were here and I would give you as many small pumpkins as you needed! I love the box as is, but the grass would be nice too.

I got one built by a good friend of mine after hearing an owl hoot in Fall a few years ago. We downloaded the plans from the web and used cedar to build the box. He mounted it ~20ft up on a PVC pipe and tethered the pole between a pine and a mulberry. Except that the owl never showed up-actually I haven't heard it again. But in the meantime, gray squirrels enlarged the hole and moved in. They have been living there ever since. I figured it is giving shelter to some creature especially in brutal winters such as this one and let it be. Squirrels are quite smart and will take advantage of any structures given half a chance. Mounting your box away from trees and securing it to a wooden pole covered by a smooth PVC pipe/sleeve might do the trick.

I have an owl box that has been invaded by bees. The beekeeper I called said that owls will not use it again, even if I clean it as the smell will always be there.... Very discouraging because I have had owls in it for about 4 years......-:(