What a happy day it is to see solitary bees using our beehouse. We don't get so many solitary bees where we live -- sad to say -- so when one begins nest-building, it generates a LOT of excitement and awe.
It's so fun to watch them "hole up" their nest with bits of earth, working fastidiously until the job's complete. It can take a day+ depending on the size of the hole.
Thijs loves building things, so thought we'd try our hand at building beehouses! With a piece of wood, some goggles, ear protection, and a drill, we were all set.
Drilled different sized holes, each about 2.5 cm long, into this bit of wood, but the question remained: would the bees LIKE it?
and the answer is ..... YES! Within a week, a bee had chosen one little hole and filled it completely with earth, giving us great confidence that YES, WE CAN (all of us!) make a home for nature:) Why not give it a try!
7 comments:
courtenay, this is a VERY timely post for us. Last month my neighbor cut a tree. I asked him to leave 4 stumps for us...they looked "useful" somehow. Decorative? Seating? I put two in the middle of my butterfly garden. The flowers will grow up around it, circling. Lovely.
The others I will ask Paul to put holes in and hide them away from the kids.
Boys hate bees. Max was stung on the face once.
Boy are you quick! I just posted this ... are you psychic? Well, the good news is that solitary bees are not aggressive, and we've never had a problem, and our beehouses are hanging UNDER our patio overhang!!! I've sat feet from the nest, sipping a cup of tea, with the bee filling its hole ... they really are gentle bees, at least from my experience.
One note: it's good to put the beehouses under cover as they don't like getting wet - at least this is what i've been told. You can hang them from a branch, or under your patio. But they also like "bright" areas -- not too dark. Am i making them sound "picky"?
at any rate -- good luck -- have fun!!
We just got a solitary beehouse, I but think we got it up a bit late in the season and haven't seen any activity. They seem content to use all of the drill holes underneath the chairs on the porch. You're right, they rarely ever sting (actually, I've only been stung by honey bees when I was doing something silly and deserved it).
Our two honey bee hives are doing well and we just added a third.
It's wonderful to hear your honey bees are doing well, and we certainly LOVED eating the honey from "your" bees - that was a real treat! At our next home (wherever that is), I'd love to have a space where we could raise honey bees ... but it would also be nice to stay put for awhile, as i can imagine bees don't like being moved.
You know, you wouldn't think so, but they get trucked all over the country as pollinators. Most of the blackberries in Maine and pollinated by bees brought up from Florida. I purchased frames of bees and queen from a pretty large beekeeping operation about an hour away and put them in my trunk and brought them home. They were a little fired up when they arrived, but seemed no worse for wear once they were set up. They really are amazing creatures.
This is so neat, Courtenay. How fun! Thanks for the insight. I'm going to show it to my animal/insect/bee-loving son, Jonathan!!
Rochelle
Sounds great Rochelle! It's an easy project, and fun too with the hole drilling, and the beehouses make nice garden/patio decorations. You can hang them from trees if you prefer ... have fun!
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