I removed all the cocoons from the bamboo tubes. I found lots of parasitic
wasp larvae. I found may fungus layden cocoons.
I saved roughly 60 cocoons. I hope I did a good job. We shall see on or about
pi-day, 2020.
I plan to use a mix of the wood trays, new bamboo tubes and diy paper tubes.
We will see if any of my work is rewarded with filled tubes.
I mounted the cleaned house on the side of my shed. I put the cocoons in a air screen
type of bag.
Nothing more to do. Now we just wait for results in 5 months.
Mason-bees are one of the groups of native bees.
When midsummer is in full swing, the most common bee in my yard are the bumblebees.
Of course, I do not provide endorsements about any website or anything else all rights reserved just like all other sites.
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Sunday, October 13, 2019
harvesting the cocoons October 13, 2019 Sunday
I have not done this before. None the less, I attempted to harvest my mason bee
cocoons.
use
My bee house is divided into two types of places for cocoons
First there is the routed out wood which was supposed to be a favorite place for the
mason bees to deposit their larvae. They completed avoided putting ANY larvae into
the routed out wood. So much for that !
Second there is the bamboo tubes. Approximated 60 percent of the tubes were used by
the mason bees.
In a very few cases, there were 5 or 6 cocoons. In most cases there were only one or two cocoons.
The mason bees would seal up the tube in though the bee only put one or two larvae.
It was like someone told the bees of the concept of a Potemkin village. If I my propose a
theory, I think the bees do this on purpose . I think they put one larvae in a tube to throw off the parasitic wasps.
I did find a few 6 larvae tubes. In a very few cases, there was no nasty fungus and no nasty wasp larvae.
I harvested the cocoons. I washed them. Then I dried them off and put them in a breathable plastic
bad and put them into the bee house. I covered the bad with quarter inch hardware cloth.
cocoons.
use
My bee house is divided into two types of places for cocoons
First there is the routed out wood which was supposed to be a favorite place for the
mason bees to deposit their larvae. They completed avoided putting ANY larvae into
the routed out wood. So much for that !
Second there is the bamboo tubes. Approximated 60 percent of the tubes were used by
the mason bees.
In a very few cases, there were 5 or 6 cocoons. In most cases there were only one or two cocoons.
The mason bees would seal up the tube in though the bee only put one or two larvae.
It was like someone told the bees of the concept of a Potemkin village. If I my propose a
theory, I think the bees do this on purpose . I think they put one larvae in a tube to throw off the parasitic wasps.
I did find a few 6 larvae tubes. In a very few cases, there was no nasty fungus and no nasty wasp larvae.
I harvested the cocoons. I washed them. Then I dried them off and put them in a breathable plastic
bad and put them into the bee house. I covered the bad with quarter inch hardware cloth.
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