Hi all, I'm new to Dave's. Have any of you had success with Mason's? I have tried for years to encourage them to my garden, and am not always seeing them. Last year I didn't see them at all. This spring, they seem to be back.......yay! Sad to say, the honey bees might go away, but we need these little Manson's to do the job of pollinating.
Please tell me your experience with Mason's. posygal
About 10 years ago I purchased a Mason Bee "condo" - 5 holes with bees. I have had them ever since. They continue to occupy the condo and also like to nest in my window frames, accessed from the corners.
There are many plants within 12' of this area that begin flowering early; I tried to make sure there was something blooming when they emerge. Other than that, I haven't done anything special for them.
I bought the tubes as well. This year I also bought the type of bees that emerge after the masons in hopes my kiwi will get pollinated. The tubes may be too far away, tho. We'll see. The masons don't travel as far as the honeybees. I have two 'colonies' of masons, one at the front of the property and one at the back. Next year we're going to add another in the front but on the other side of the property.
My problem is where to put them. They do best on the side of the house but in the front yard, we don't have a place like that. I have old abandoned honeybee hives in the front and my husband built a little place we put the tubes so we could have them out there, since that's where the fruit trees are.
They're expensive to buy ($25 for 3 tubes here), but I think they're worth it, esp since if you give them a place to come back to, they will. You need to have the new tubes for them in the same vicinity they leave the old tubes (if you want to be able to be sure they come back) and you can't move them at all once the bees have emerged.
Gwen
Hi Posygal,
I am attaching a photo of a sketch my husband made of how he contructs his own mason bee homes.
The only problem is that we have had mite infestations, and then you have to redrill the holes and cook them in the oven to get rid of all the mites.
Were it not for the mites, this has been perfect for the bees!
Essential, will the bees return to holes that have been used already?
Gwen
I have screw holes in my brick wall where a mailbox use to hang and the bees use the same holes every year. I don't do anything to the holes at all.
I wonder if you can put together a bunch of plastic straws and they would use those as nests? It would be a good way to recycle. I think I might have to try that!
Hi Gwen,
Yes, they will return year after year - if you don't get a mite infestation they will just reuse the holes. If you do get the mites you will have to treat the "nest".
Dr Saul, the holes have to be the exact perfect diameter and I'm not sure if the straws are the right size. I wonder if they'd reuse the 'tubes' I bought. I usually throw them away after they emerge and put in fresh tubes. The empty tubes are quite cheap, tho - it's the ones with bees that are so costly.
Gwen
I have had two mason bee many-holed condos and they are filled to the brim. I confess I didn't watch them closely last year for emergence of new bees, but in years past they have reused the same condos. There is no lack of pollinators on our blueberries- always bees busy down there. The bee condos/tubes seem to prefer to be kept dry. They do much better under the eaves of a building than under a tree canopy, at least here.
Essentialplanet, your husband has true engineering skills. Such a planner.
Gwen, where did you buy your bees and the tubes?
I think I've got mason bees in a windchime, of all things!
I have a small tube-type metal windchime on my front porch close to my flower beds, and the other day I noticed one of the tubes didn't chime, and then I saw a dark roundish black bee fly out of the top. I looked into it and it sounds like the diameter of these tubes is just what they like (5/16"). Everything I've read says they like horizontal tubes, not vertical. I guess this bee was really desperate for a home?
Now, a second tube is starting to "thump" and not chime. I'm really happy to have the bees, and I won't disturb them, but I'm wondering what to do next. Think I should take the clapper off the windchime? Or should I get (or make) some empty tube blocks and mount it nearby?
I buy my bees (and tubes) at Bayview Farm and Garden here on south Whidbey. They come over from someplace in town. The woman and her father (who wrote the book) live there and she drives them over. She also does a class here sometimes in the spring, which is where I first learned about these bees.
Poochella, you're right, they do need to be under some sort of protection. My husband built a little bee condo that we put the tubes in so they don't get wet. But I've heard over and over they prefer to be up against a house or building of some type for the warmth also. We just don't have the situation in our front yard. I was thinking of putting some tubes on our little thing that surrounds our meter.
Suzy, how cute they have taken over your windchime! I'd just leave it alone since they seem to be doing well in it! They will multiply over the years so putting up some empty tubes nearby would be a great idea. But don't be surprised if they continue to use the windchimes too.
I usually get double over one year. If I put out 3 tubes, I will have 5 or 6 tubes at the end of the season. I have hoped that they also finding homes on their own and will continue to multiply that way, but so far haven't come across any.
I bring mine (full tubes) inside in the fall and keep them in the fridge. (Large sections of our fridge are donated to the gardening cause. Good thing I bought a really big one!)
Gwen
Hi
Well, I've decided to snip off the clapper to the windchime and let the bees have it. I'm hoping that it will help remind me that they're there. I think over next winter I can just take it down and hang it in our garage. That's a really convenient thing about my vertical bees! Now I just have to figure out where to hang an empty mason bee block. :)
Gwendalou, when do you bring your tubes back out of the fridge?
Oh, I'm brand-new to Dave's too-it's neat to find such an interesting PNW group here :)
This message was edited May 22, 2007 9:43 AM
This message was edited May 22, 2007 9:43 AM
Does one have to keep adding condos for the mason bees? I studied mine yesterday and many of the previously filled-in holes now have openings. Can I assume bees are out and about and will reuse their little wooden condo?
Hi Pooch - yes - they clean it out & reuse. The condos I have are reused every year.
Susy, I bring them out in March or so when the fruit trees start to get flowers. They're over and done with now. All the bees are back in their little tubes until next year. I just put out the next batch of bees out. Im not sure but they might be called osmia californica. I know they are different from the mason bees. work just like the masons but come out after the mason bees are through.
Gwen
Thanks Katye. I wish I could train bees to clean and reuse my house.
Good idea on the fruit tree timing on the bee release, Gwendalou. Our blueberries have been abuzz since blooms formed. I saw the earliest little berries starting yesterday! Yum.
Susybell, Welcome to Dave's! I am going to think of your vertical bees everytime I hear "the Clapper" commercial LOL! Clap on, Clap off- the Clapper..... :)
I have little bees all over the place, but don't know what they are. They are not honey bees (or bumbles), but seem to be pollinating. My cotoneaster is blooming and they love it! Are they likely mason bees? If so, do they really need a "home," or can they take care of that themselves?
(((Hi Murmur!)))
See if this link works for a good close up of a mason bee. They always seem almost all black to me, or mostly dark colored. If link won't work, google Mason bees images.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.californiagardens.com/images/mason_bee.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.californiagardens.com/Plant_Pages/mason_bees.htm&h=726&w=553&sz=49&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=h9oPZFYJM5juLM:&tbnh=141&tbnw=107&prev=/images%3Fq%3DmaSON%2BBEES%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DGGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en
Thanks, Annie - the link worked. I'll have to take a photo of "mine" later to get a better comparison. Are there other pollinating bees around here?
I'm almost out the door, but will try to get a good pic later.
Murmur, they look like flies, but they buzz. And they don't bite unless extremely provoked.
If they're in your yard on their own, then they are providing for themselves and you don't need to provide any homes.
However, I think we're at the end of the season for masons, so they may be the osmia californicas which I think come out now. I could be wrong, but I think bumbles come out later in the summer. Honeybees would be out by now I'm pretty sure (I think they're out when the fruit trees are flowering) and stay out all summer I think.
Gwen
Hi Murmur,
There are lots of pollinating bees - more than 4000 varieties of bees in North America - probably some that have never been identified.
Confirmed with the neighbors this a.m. that the buzzers in my blueberries are not mason bees. These have yellow and black bodies, not as big as bumble bees, some have a more orange hind segment to their bodies. Could be one of 3,999!
Essential, do you have any notions on what's causing the bee colony collapse? I haven't read much about it, except that it exists on a grand scale.
Hi Poochella,
Some of the suspects in colony collapse is pesticides, and also genetically engineered crops. The cause is not known for sure at this time, but organic beekeepers are not having the problem with colony collapse. Wild bees are also not affected.
http://infowars.net/articles/may2007/110507bees.htm
Well shoot; now I have to try and discover why genetically engineered crops might factor into the equation. Too much to learn, so little time....
Thanks for the link Essential. It makes sense that like many other things man commercializes, it sounds like we push bees to the max to produce more $. I will commit to keeping buds blooming here and keep my yard bees as stress-free as possible.
What I read about the genetically modified crops is that the BT that they're modified to naturally create doesn't kill the bees (does kill butterfly larvae, btw) but it might be weakening their immune systems and that in combination with the pesticides, mites, miticide, and heavy work schedule may be what is doing them in.
I've been seeing the fuzzy orange-rumped ones in my rhodies, too.
I had no idea there were so many different kinds of pollinating bees!! Guess I won't worry about what variety I have - I'll just keep hoping they do the job. I don't think they're Masons, though. I got home after dark last night so couldn't get a picture.
Thanks, Essentialplanet, Gwendalou, and Susybell, for the info!
