Mason Bee - how many is too many ?

[Geoff F]

My 'nest block' is in the veg garden so there has been a bit of watering new seed drills and transplants plus some pots of 'hardening up' ornamentals which get well watered.

[Richard Baber]

I've had my first success with mason bees (or probably just one mason bee) this year in my insect hotel, which contains a mixture of tubes and hollow plant stems. Just three tubes have been capped, but I'm very happy with that, and it was great to watch the bee in action. I think re-siting the hotel to a sunnier spot may have helped, as well as introducing more 'bee' plants last year. I've also kept a small area of soil constantly damp nearby.

Richard

[exo]

Not too sure if necro-posting is discouraged in here

Wanted to ask for advice about my bee 'hotel' in the original post in this thread.

I've had it in the cellar all winter, & just staring to think,
I don't want to put it outside too late or I'll end up with a house full of bees,
there's supposedly somewhere between 7000 & 9000 bees in there !

So what's the best date to do that ?

Unsure because last year was a riduculously early spring, this year who knows...,
then again I don't want to have them all killed by a long freeze.

Any ideas ?

[Jim Ford]

You can download for free Henri Fabre's wonderful work on Mason bees here:

The Mason-Bees by Jean-Henri Fabre - Project Gutenberg

Jim

[exo]

Thanks for that, an interesting & detailed study of these bees,
wonder if climate changed has changed their habits at all in the last 100 years.

Maybe the nests shouldn't be brought in at all, but left to their own devices ?

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by exo

Thanks for that, an interesting & detailed study of these bees,
wonder if climate changed has changed their habits at all in the last 100 years.

IIRC Fabre lived in the South of France, so it was a lot warmer there anyway. He was unbelievably patient. People thought he was mad because he used to sit in the sun for hours observing his subjects. More about the brilliant man here:

Jean Henri Fabre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jim

[Matt Smith]

Just put it out now and let the bees sort themselves out - my tubes stay in place all year round.

[John_M]

I leave mine out all the time; interestingly(?) the premade cardboard tubes don't seem to be as popular as the home made affairs, which are just holes drilled in old bits of wood. The lady who used to live next door was quite concerned at so many bees in the garden, and was convinced I'd be stung to death, and refused to believe I'd never been stung, neither have the kids.

[exo]

OK, I'll put them out first opportunity, prob. the weekend.
Forecast says temperature will be mid-teens by Thurs,
so I hope they don't start coming out this week.

That's exactly the opposite of what I've seen,
holes in wood are least nested in, chopped & cleaned bamboo about 1/3 to 1/2 used &
commercial paper-lined rolled-cardboard tubes are always fully used.

But I've got a 2000-hole wood-block standing by,
cos I ain't gonna spend another £100 on 1000 tubes this year (probably).

I showed my next door neighbour the nest in full flow last year,
they were surprised how you can stand in the main flight flow & let them use you as a sunbathing platform. Very calm insects these.

[exo]

Sorry to double post, another question...if anyone has done holes in wood as nests:

All-filled commercial cardboard tubes at top, new unused wood holes block at left:


Close up of wood holes, 6" deep


I think they're too rough, bees don't seem to like that, so question is
how do I smooth/line them, tried rolling up tubes of printing paper
but that's really fiddly & would take ages.


Any ideas how to make the holes smoother or line them easily & quickish?