You're a kind soul @leadfarmer! Both my grandpa and my dad used to be beekeepers. I grew up around bees and would always appreciate how honey bees operate, their unique sense of community, and their peculiar ability to navigate far distances in search of food. We'd usually move our bees from one location in the country to another. Sometimes we'd lend the bees to nearby orchards when it was time to pollinate the trees.
It wasn't until later that I found out about mason bees. Now, some years later as I'm no longer surrounded by honey bees, I've been visited by mason bees. We've decided to redo our backyard and line the fence with reed. Needless to say, it didn't take mason bees long to settle in.
Now, I get to spend my afternoons relaxing out on my patio, observing these things fly around and build their little nests. One day I was relaxing out there, playing online slot games on my tablet, and I had one bee land right on my screen. These games are pretty colorful, as seen here https://www.nodepositdaily.com/features/free-slots-with-best-visuals/, so I wonder if the little bee thought it was landing on a flower?
Anyway, having them around reminded me of my childhood. In fact, I might use some of my dad's equipment to start my own apiary again. It's good to have bees in my life.
@sansenao90 It's nice that you are now being able to enjoy watching the masons.
A noticed another bee coming out of one of the nesting tubes this morning, which surprised me as I had assumed their nesting season had ended by now. This bee exited backwards, and after I took this photo it flopped to the ground and sat motionless. I lifted it somewhere safer and saw it preening its antenna. I assume after completing their nest they die that same year?
@LeadFarmer I would say at the least, remove the filled tubes and put somewhere safe over winter. I would probably remove them from the tubes, clean them up and keep in a pot over winter. But I'm sure others will say nature doesn't need us poking our noses in! True but last year I cleaned out a lot of parasites which would probably have eaten everything if I hadn't.
@LeadFarmer I would say at the least, remove the filled tubes and put somewhere safe over winter. I would probably remove them from the tubes, clean them up and keep in a pot over winter. But I'm sure others will say nature doesn't need us poking our noses in! True but last year I cleaned out a lot of parasites which would probably have eaten everything if I hadn't.
Thank you. I’ve a feeling the cardboard tubes can be soaked in water and unwound, to remove the cocoons for cleaning and storing. But I’m not sure when that should be done as I don’t know the timescales for when the eggs hatch, or when the grub turns into a cocoon etc.
George P says all bees are done by end of Oct, so taking in should be fine by then. I'm taking mine in again, so protect from spider predation, if nothing else. I still have zero leaf cutters nesting.
so I’m guess I have the option of taking the tubes into the garage out of the weather, and returning them next spring to let them hatch, or take them in and empty the cocoons to store over winter and watch for them hatching in the spring.
Cocoons laid in a channel are supposed to hatch and emerge in order so, leaving in place over winter might be fine.
George P says to make sure that the cocoons inside are kept in a cool place. If too warm with central heating, this can trigger too-early hatching. If you remove the cocoons from the tubes you would put them outside in a hatching chamber in about March.
An unheated garage or shed is fine for over Winter. Mine were in a shed last year and I brought them out in March - though they took ages to hatch, I think because of the cold weather. The cardboard tubes will unravel in water, I have some of those, though they have stayed empty this year.
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You're a kind soul @leadfarmer! Both my grandpa and my dad used to be beekeepers. I grew up around bees and would always appreciate how honey bees operate, their unique sense of community, and their peculiar ability to navigate far distances in search of food. We'd usually move our bees from one location in the country to another. Sometimes we'd lend the bees to nearby orchards when it was time to pollinate the trees.
It wasn't until later that I found out about mason bees. Now, some years later as I'm no longer surrounded by honey bees, I've been visited by mason bees. We've decided to redo our backyard and line the fence with reed. Needless to say, it didn't take mason bees long to settle in.
Now, I get to spend my afternoons relaxing out on my patio, observing these things fly around and build their little nests. One day I was relaxing out there, playing online slot games on my tablet, and I had one bee land right on my screen. These games are pretty colorful, as seen here https://www.nodepositdaily.com/features/free-slots-with-best-visuals/, so I wonder if the little bee thought it was landing on a flower?
Anyway, having them around reminded me of my childhood. In fact, I might use some of my dad's equipment to start my own apiary again. It's good to have bees in my life.
A noticed another bee coming out of one of the nesting tubes this morning, which surprised me as I had assumed their nesting season had ended by now. This bee exited backwards, and after I took this photo it flopped to the ground and sat motionless. I lifted it somewhere safer and saw it preening its antenna. I assume after completing their nest they die that same year?
I now need advice on what to do with the tubes over winter..
Leave them be?
Remove them and store in the garage?
At a suitable time open up the tubes, remove the chrysalis and store?