how many of you are using Mason Bees for pollination?

I have a large bed under some rhodies that now has bishop's weed in it. It need to get rid of that and I thought epimediums would be perfect in there. It is under my smoke tree.

Katie, I'm glad to hear your hosta is doing well, I don't have a #1 favorite yet in Epimediums, I'm liking them all. they all just came on this last week and their flowers are all dancing around. I planted one in the driest part of my woods and it loves it. I just received the Darrell Probst catalog, it looks like he sold it but will continue to introduce new ones. I will also buy some from Naylor Creek. Jim

Willowwind2, you don't live that far from Port Orchard, if you're in the area stop by, Jim

Okay, thanks, I guess I'll just try out whatever catches my eye. I have yellow coming on right now, and I have a new red one from last year. I haven't seen blossoms, but hope this weekend will encourage them.

As far as the Epimediums go, I'm definitely planning to add 'Princess Susan' at some point, LOL (I couldnt resist the hosta 'Miss Susie' this year, either...oh well, why not? I've got something with all my cat's names, I might as well join them in the garden, huh?)

Hi Jim, do you think it is too late for this year already?
I noticed one creating a "tube" in the groove in my wood siding. I had hung a birdhouse against the siding and the bee was using the groove created under it.

My plum tree has already bloomed, the cherry and peach trees are blooming, but the apples are just starting to open.

Can I still get something up, or have they already done their job and died this year?

Thanks Jim, We come to Port Orchard a lot to see our daughter, so I will keep it in mind.

I've had good success with blocks of cedar firewood, I just drill a bunch of 5/16 holes in one side, then hang with wire under the eaves, they emerge each year and refill the same blocks with no further effort on my part.

caleb

Hey, Caleb. Nice to hear from more Oregonians. My dad's family lived down in Oregon and my favorite great aunt had a little house in Cottage Grove. We used to visit her in the summers and, coming from Alaska, I loved the idyllic little town.

So a block of Cedar wood with 5/16 inch holes . . I think I might ask my neighbor to make me one and see how that works. It would look cool to mount it in the garden.

you need to make sure they are at least 5-6 inches deep as they lay male eggs in one section and female in the other and if they aren't deep enough you will get an imbalance, or at least thats what I was told. heres a pic of the one on my back porch, as you can see they've already layed most of their eggs in this block

Oh, I love the look of that. I had heard that they lay females deep and males out toward the front, so the males emerge first and mate with the females as they emerge.

well that's most certainly a convenient arrangement!

Takes care of first things first!

Do you think it is too late to put something out for them?

LOL Kathy!!!

re: too late --- a few well-positioned Lady Masons?

Mine are still out & about, but not as many.
Also noted: I am noticing fewer native bees out in my orchard. The cherries, apples & pears are usually chock full at this point. None of my blueberries are flowering yet, which should be a good indictor. Most years, you need air traffic control to navigate through the orchard when the blueberries flower.

"so the males emerge first and mate with the females as they emerge"

"well-positioned Lady Masons?"

LOL. You girls are too funny. My husband set up a full wood working shop, which is now mine. There is a drill press out there, and tons of wood. My neighbor says he lives across the street from "HomeDepot", meaning me.

Maybe I can figure out how to put a block of wood in the press and drill some holes.
Or maybe my neighbor can do it for me. He knows how to use all of the equipment and I let him borrow anything he needs. In return he repaired my fence when it blew down, and put a metal roof on my chicken house when it started leaking. Nice man.
:)

wow - good neighbours are quite nice & seemingly rare these days. Not that the folks that live around us in our respective neighbourhoods aren't nice - it's just harder to get to know them when everyone is so busy. You are very blessed!

Drill presses are easy to use. I learned to use all the tools when we buity our house and that is the easiest. Some of them scare me. I also learned to cut out birdhouses and drill the holes myself. Fun!

Katye, I haven't noticed a drop in the bee population, they were a little late getting going but are filling the tubes, I put out 500 nesters this year. I doubt if they'll fill all of them. we'll see, Jim

Wow. 500 nesters! I had honey bees for awhile, but they are pretty difficult to keep healthy. I am super interested in the Mason Bees. I'll get something up for them ASAP. Thanks for the info, it seems all the bees are a little late getting going.

I haven't seen much bee activity yet at all. I miss them; they're my favorite gardening buddies. I love the dogs and cats, but they don't do much work out there.

Much? sheesh - mine do none. Except to create more for me, LOL!

Bees, some while the weather was warm today. Still too cool to see many wasps. But i watched one today going after the aphids. I told him he needed to get his buddies - he wasn't going to put much of a dent in the aphid population by himself.

Yeah, good point. Mine don't help at all, except for to stick a cold nose in my back once every now and then to check on me. Not my favorite feeling.

and what's up with that?
why the nose in the back or under my eye - have you seen them do this to each other?
Ruby is soooooo nosy with that big snout. drives me nuts somedays...

Yeah, I hate the nose poke in the eye while they try to lick you to tell you you're boss. Yeah, I know I'm boss. And, as boss, I'm saying, "cut that out!!"