inside: Many solitary, densely populated bees play a role in combating all the predators, pests and pathogens that plague bees nesting in hollow nests. Erect, hollow stems make a healthy alternative to crowded situations.

We all think, “That wouldn’t happen to me.” I take care that my mason bees do not have any health problems. ” The problem is that nature is an opportunist. If one organism sees a chance to thrive on the back of another, it will.

Rise of the mason bee

Over the past two decades, orchard mason bees have exploded as domestic pets. I often make impulse purchases when I see Masonby’s cute birdhouse-like mansion in the aisles of my favorite stores.

Arguably, the mason bee and its close relative, the leafcutter bee, are the pollination superstars. They are quick and industrious, pollinating many flowers and crops. If you keep them in a visible place, they are much easier to observe than bees in a hive, so they are very attractive. Even better, they are reluctant to sting and rarely confront reluctant bee-watchers.

Unfortunately, many mason beekeepers have a “set it and forget it” mentality, and this philosophy rarely works in the long run. Eventually, uncared-for bees die or leave.

Crowded districts can be deadly

Like many other creatures, large groups of masonry bees feed on organisms that utilize them. The number of threats to cavity-hive bees, such as mason bees and leaf-cutting bees, is staggering. The list includes multiple types of ticks, wasps, birds, fungi, molds and pathogens.

These threats occur naturally in the environment and are almost everywhere. But as the pandemic has reminded us, when individuals live and work in close proximity, disease spreads like wildfire, rapidly and ferociously. Parasites and predators also rejoice in finding victims in close proximity and pounce on the nutrient riches bees provide.

Many solitary bees are gregarious in nature and often live close to each other, but they do not live as densely as bee swarms. They naturally spread further apart, making each more secure from anything that might attack them. A little social distancing can go a long way in helping lone bees survive.

Unlike bees, solitary bees need space

After seeing bees and social wasps living in large colonies, we might think that dense living is normal for bees. But unlike solitary masonry bees, social insects like honeybees live in colonies with multiple defenses against intruders.

Just as moose shoals, fish schools, and bird flocks have crowdsourced safeguards, so do insect colonies. Their defense often involves some sacrifice for the benefit of the group. However, solitary bees are similar to rabbits, moles, and woodpeckers, and their defense mechanisms do not involve other bees. Solitary bees may live near conspecifics, but most of the time they must protect themselves.

Like anything worthwhile, masonry bees require effort.

Unfortunately, mason bee farming involves more than just hanging the beehive on a pole and walking away. These cute miniature homes can actually be death traps, luring lonely young mothers into dens that attract disease and predators. It’s hard to imagine anything so cleverly designed to fail.

A dense colony of bees not only attracts diseases, molds and fungi, but also woodpeckers, parasitic wasps and mites admire bees. Sadly, most things that go wrong for Mason bees also go wrong in your own home.

Yes, you can successfully raise masonry bees in condos, bee huts, and perforated blocks, but it takes a lot of work. In addition, various steps must be dealt with on time before the attacker wins. It’s easy to forget a step or be late. Or maybe it’s just not fun enough to keep going.

Remember those people who got pets during the pandemic and turned them into shelters a year or two later? Tedious and repetitive tasks can make you question your decisions.

Masonby’s Problem Progression

The progression of mason bee problems usually follows a predictable pattern. When you first get a mason’s bee hutch, at first he’ll be a year, sometimes he’ll be two years, everything will be fine. As luck would have it, the purchased mason bees didn’t carry many pathogens, so the first bee emerges and mates, filling the new tube with pollen and eggs.

However, bees catch pollen mites on their journey. So by the second year the tick-induced bee population is reduced and you may find the bees covered in a thick layer of pollen mites. If the beekeeper did not clean or replace the hive tube in a timely manner, the bees will lay next year’s bees in the contaminated hole. Beekeepers often say: they’re okay ’ But they don’t. The epidemic is rapidly deteriorating.

Also, after the first season, the local fauna will have time to discover the locations of bee communities. By the third year, parasitic wasps are often hovering in large clouds.The worst of these are things like singularity, smaller than the fruit fly. But don’t be fooled. they are dangerous. They lay their eggs inside the bee’s chrysalis. And when the baby wasps hatch into larvae, they eat the growing bees from the inside out.

Upright Hollow Stems: Alternative to Beehives

Growing plants with hollow stems is a healthy alternative to artificial beehives. These are the types of nests that hollow-housing bees would choose if they lived in the wild. Several characteristics make upright, hollow stems ideal for beehives.

First, spread the stem further. Within each bunch, some may be close. But most of the time there is a gap of a few inches between each one. Also, the tufts themselves can extend several inches, feet, or even yards.

Wider spacing between tubes makes it harder for diseases to spread and makes it harder for birds and bees to find the tubes. In addition, birds cannot stand in one place and eat for hours. Instead, they have to keep hunting, pecking, and finding places to drop off. The whole process is more difficult and time consuming.

Another advantage is that after a few years the stems will naturally fall over and begin to rot. This is the perfect time to raise healthy bees. The latest generation of bees may still emerge from fallen stems, but modern adults do not nest there, so the natural, hassle-free cycle keeps pathogen levels low.

Nature is doing everything right, but we humans think we can do better. However, this may not always be the case. The biggest drawback to using an upright stem is the need for long-term planning.

How to Grow Upright Hollow Stems for Bees

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• You may need to seek advice from your extension worker or local gardening club as you will need to choose plants that are appropriate for your area. A plant with a hollow or pith-bearing stem is required. Examples include lovage, elderberry, blackberry, teasel, drumstick allium, mountain mint, goldenrod, sunflower, joe pie weed, and swamp cotton.

• At the end of the first growing season, cut back the stems to about 12 to 18 inches tall. Use a sharp tool to make a smooth, straight cut to create an attractive, non-threatening entrance to the nest.

2nd year

• In the spring of the second year, hollow nesting bees build their nests using upright hollow stems. Leave these standing all year round. Some species may lay chicks in late summer of the same year, but most species, including Mason bees, do not emerge until the following year.

• Also, in the second year, especially if you are using annuals, you can start planting more plants for next season. Remember to cut back the hollow stems to 12 to 18 inches in the fall.

• In late autumn or early winter, some stems remain erect, but some may bend or drop to the ground. Some prefer not to disturb the stems at all and leave everything natural. Some people prefer to cut the stems above ground and store them in a cool, dry place, similar to bamboo tubes or paper straws.

  Either method is fine, but if you collect the stems, be sure to put them in an emergence box in the spring to prevent bees from reusing old stems. (Note: If you live in an area that gets a lot of rain in winter, it’s better to collect the stems.)

Third year

• In the spring of the third year, bees emerge from the hollow stems planted in the first year, and many of them nest in the stems planted in the second year. You are on track now. Just keep going and you should have plenty of healthy bees to pollinate your orchards and garden crops.

Healthy Bees Are Worth the Effort

Please give this rotation a try. It seems like a lot of work, but if done properly, you can omit harvesting and bleaching the cocoons, which is tedious, time consuming and not at all natural.

Rusty
honeybee suite