I have a mason bee house I got year before last.I came across it today and was wondering ifanyone know WHEN it should go up and what kind of area it should go in.. it was the last one with no infor and of course no one at the rose emporuim knew anything about it..but they did give me a really good price on it...lol..
mason bees..
You need to put it underneath the overhang of your house. You dont want the critters to get burnt when they are dormant in the heat of summer. You can buy replacement tubes that fit into the holes of the house at Peaceful Valley or HighCountryGarden. You can also buy tubes of the bees if you want to jump start it. Mine have already come out and are active. Dont expect a huge hive as they are slow to increase their numbers. They are cute and very very non-aggressive.
thanks.. Ill get it up this weekend then
Any luck with your bees?
A few weeks ago, I bought a can of mason bee tubes and built a little birdhouse-looking enclosure for the can. I bought a starter pack of 6 bees and let them go. I thought that might be the fastest I ever spent some money, but the bees have fortunately stayed and are quite busy in the house. In fact, I'm wondering if they have invited some friends over as well. Are mason bees common around here?
Ive got them coming and going so far...I dont know how common they are but they seem to like it here...
I was just out in the yard, and I happened to point my flashlight at the bee house. To my surprise, I could see 20 little bee behinds sticking out of the nesting tubes. I guess the 6 bees I bought must have found some local friends. :)
Interesting to know that they sleep in the tubs with their back ends out.
that is interesting.. me I prefer that end under cover so to speak when Im sleeping...lol..
The bees have been quite busy.... :)
I know this be a stupid question, but what are mason bee's?
cool...
THANK YOU dfwdennis & blkraven for " cultivating" bees.. they are sooo much needed as the honey bee is in danger! Your "nest" dfwdennis is sooo cool.. I've seen them & wondered how they "worked"... I hope the bees that came after are "good" bees, as sometimes interpollenating bees are not.
I think mason bees are ones that are "domesticated"..so to speak.. & not from the wild?? I am just guessing here.
mason bees are a non aggressive bee and is needed cause some types of bees are being killed by mites and a few other things.. they do a wonderful job of pollinaiting plants.. and are much needed..
ps... they are cool to watch too..
I bought a starter set of six bees, but I ended up with many more that moved in from the neighborhood. I bought the can with the tubes in it on knoxcellars.com, and built the little cedar housing for it myself. They are really cool to watch and non aggressive. I was standing about a foot away from the nest taking pictures while the females flew in and out, and they just ignored me. My wife likes them too, and she wants me to set out three nesting cans next year since we were so successful this year. :)
Good Job Dennis!!! that is really neat.
Just one of many species of bees Cindy. Non social and non aggressive. I had, for a lot of years, a species of blackish bees that nested in the ground. They didn't sting, even when I dug up the area to plant there. I don't know much about bees just that there are different types.
C
So from what I have read, you order the tubes and dormant bee's in December. Suppling plants and mud for the buggers, and a protective eave and house on the south side of your house out of the hot sun.
Sounds like a fun new hobby to me. I do have bees visiting my yard though. Still it would be cool to help out some and provide them with a place to stay.
C
every bit helps...I had a DIY bee box in I made when I i lived in MI.. I took a ceder post and drilled the needed hole size and depth in to it and they used it just like the tubes.. after they hatched I would just take the drill and clean the holes out...
Very interesting! I love what is to be learned right here on DG.
The reading I have done says the Varroa mite that damages bee populations can be prevented by growing mints under and around the hives. Plus, the mints blooms will attract the bees. How cool is that! Good for good...
How long are they active in the spring?
If I make a simple wooden bee box will wasps move in? That is something I do not want to encourage. Also, how much maintainance is involved in a wooden box? I saw some directions online for making one.
C
I didnt have problems with wasps when I had the box in MI and I dont have them with my mason bee box I have here.. if you make the holes the right size and depth you shouldnt have an issue
Good to know as my husband is allergic to wasp stings and I am not found of them either!
C
I know many people are scared of wasps and bees but Ive found even with the aggressive ones if I just stand still then ease myself away slowly I have no problems.. but lots of people start flailing thier arms around and that just sets them off..I know its a gut reaction for many especailly if you are allergic but if you can just stay calm they will too...
Well I do agree and work around bees all day sometimes, wasps too. But when you have allergies its a different situation. As for me, I have been stung repeatidly by a wasp who flew over to me from across the yard for no known reason to me. I was not even near the insect and can't imagine why it decided to behave the way it did. Perhaps its a nest thing but anyway I am not afraid of insects I just hate being stung over and over again by irritated wasps.
C
"I just hate being stung over and over again by irritated wasps".
well if you did like it Id say something was very wrong...lol...
LOL you just never know....
I am so "proud" of you all... I now enjoy the honey bees & bumble bees since hubby explained it to me that the honey bees won't sting unless absolutely neccessary..COOL.
As I was working out in the salvia last year, weeding. the bees just buzzed around me, paying me no mind.. I was so calm about it too. These poor creatures need a helping hand don't they?
Are carpenter bees and mason bees the same thing? I have bees that have drilled holes in part of my house. Hubby says to ignore them since they don't really hurt anything after they drill the holes and they reuse the same holes. I'm not so sure.
Do y'all know?
They are not the same. Mason bees actually don't make their own holes. If the holes on your house are the right size, then they could move in if the other bees abandon them.
Thank you, dfwdennis.
I see the Carpenter bees doing a lot of work ,pollinating and such so I just let them drill all the holes they want but the DW doesn't like the sawdust on the porch but says she will put up with them after I told her of their role...
OK see if anyone is still on this thread, are mason bees native to TX or are they imported from other parts of the US?
Cheryl
I bought a small starter pack from North Haven Gardens which had six bees, but ultimately a couple of dozen showed up to the party, so I guess they (or a similar species) must be around here already.
Bee Watchers http://www.beewatchers.com/bee-watchers.html has really probably a good bit more than you want to know, but under the Jack Neff section is a list of species, included a couple dozen mason bees. Probably there are a few more in other parts of the state.
I'd guess they do get moved around across state lines a good bit, too - they're nesting away on some building material, which gets loaded up on a truck or train and off they go.
I looked on bee watchers but couldn't find a simple list of those that are native. From what I have read mason bees have been moved around quite a bit. I just wondered if they were actual natives or imports so to speak.
C
Found this thread today, Interesting. I've had some experience with honey bees and they are amazing creatures. Hope thier populations increase.
Found another thread where I found North Haven Gardens is in Dallas. Thought I might mention that for others who might be looking in.
Still looking for Texas Natives.
Thanks
dmtom I have a question for you. We have lots of honey bees that come to our gardens (they especially love the various basils that bloom in the fall) and I have tried to find out where they live (no success however). Do you know what the average travel range of honey bee would be? No one around my neighborhood or in town seems to keep bees -so don't know if they are wild, or are just traveling a long way. The chamber of commerce in our town said there was a bee keeper five miles from town in a direction which would probably make it seven miles from our house.
Honey bees have been know to fly 3 miles for water. They try to live closer to a food supply.
The way I've heard to track honey bees is. Set out a dish of honey, when they find it dust the bee with colored chalk. Time it as to when it returns. Move the dish a ways from the first place and repeat til the time gets shorter and follow the direction. When the bees leave they make a big circle to "orienent" themselves then makes a beeline to the hive. So trying to watch which way they go doesn't work.