Mason Bee - how many is too many ?

exo · #1 (**permalink**) 16-05-2011, 08:44 PM

Had a couple of 'bee tubes' a few years ago, just for fun, then got some more...
this year I've got over 1000 tubes & bamboo stems filled with (mainly) red
& (some) blue mason bee nests + possibly some other species.

What I would like to know is :
do you think next year it'd be fair to try not increasing, or even cut back,
or should I just keep expanding ?

Am I allowed to link to my video of the male swarm ? - I'll try :
http:://www.exogenesis.co.uk/MasonBees1.wmv (only 4 Mbytes)

Anyway here's the females on the job earlier on, before it was completely filled :

Getting to it : although I think these are two males !

Geoff F · #2 (**permalink**) 17-05-2011, 08:19 PM

I would say, just do what you can. If there isn't sufficient room at your 'hotel' they will move on and find something else.

Last year, I experimented with just 8 holes in a block of wood and never had a single guest. This year I tried a different location and got a full house. So I will get busy with the drill before next season.

I'm certainly not going to buy anything pre constructed from a gardening centre. Just looking at their prices made my knees go wobbly!

exo · #3 (**permalink**) 17-05-2011, 11:38 PM

Didn't see your reply sorry Goeff, must check my profile settings.

A bit surprised there's not more mason bee 'keepers' on here,
it's definately cheaper if you buy just the tubes (online at ~10p each if you buy 100+),
up to 9 bees could hatch per tube - I think that's a bargain

Drilled myself another 1000 holes in a wood block & not one was filled,
it's all over now (very quick season - about a month early this year).

They say they're somewhere between 3 and 100 times better at 'early' pollinating than honey-bees,
there's no (resource-draining) honey to make & each one isn't tied to the queen's needs.

Fun animals to watch & handle - very calm & friendly for a wild insect.

Jason Green · #4 (**permalink**) 18-05-2011, 05:12 AM

Morning Exo,

Fellow MB-keeper here. Yes, we've had plenty of action from ours this year. Still, only two chambers were sealed-off, despite them seeming to have had a nice long season.

I wonder if the dry weather contributed to this? The dry mud must have made scraping it together quite difficult.

Take care,

Jason

exo · #5 (**permalink**) 18-05-2011, 07:11 PM

Hi Jason,
I've wondered about where they get the mud from, especially in this record dry spring,
I tried offering a bird table with wet earth but it got ignored, still they got a lot from somewhere.

Maybe it helps I've got several large plants (like buddleia) in pots with trays always full of water,
also a large fish pond + a small wildlife pond, so plenty of water.

Seems odd you only got a few chambers if they were going at it.

cheers

Dave

Jason Green · #6 (**permalink**) 18-05-2011, 08:19 PM

Sounds good. Nice idea with the wet earth offering, too

eucera · #7 (**permalink**) 18-05-2011, 09:00 PM

I have about 1000 tubes in my bee hotel and I reckon about 990 are now occupied. All the work was crammed into about 2 weeks of frantic activity 7.00 am to 8.00pm.

Susie · #8 (**permalink**) 18-05-2011, 09:06 PM

I had increasing numbers of tubes used each year up until last year then numbers fell dramatically. I think it was down to parasites. This year there were only a few bees and the nests they built were very scruffy as I think the mud was dry and difficult to manage but at least they are still going.

I must say how impressed I am with your mason bee nests, I want one like that!

exo · #9 (**permalink**) 19-05-2011, 09:59 PM

Sounds like the masons bees are have more success in some areas than others,
wonder what the critical factor is: nest location, amount of local pollen, suitable mud availability ?

Don't like those mites you see on them, at least they're not bloodsuckers, like varroa on honey bees (?),
but just there for the ride to the next pollen meal.
Still, seen some bees so loaded they couldn't get the energy to fly frequently enough.

Would love to find a method of making them jump off, without worrying the bee,
maybe some sort of artificial pollen-smelling device that allows the bees to escape,
but retains the mites somehow, for disposal later.

Meta menardi · #10 (**permalink**) 19-05-2011, 10:08 PM

Bees have excavated the roots of one of my pot shrubs, so they are presumably doing their thing with the soil, I don't think it would make very good mud. I covered the surface with vermiculite, but put some similar stuff alongside. They took that quite readily. They must have taken a good sized flowerpot full, they also went mad for water, it can't have been a good season.