I found lots of nasty parasites. Two types of parasite larvae were found. One type is off-white larvae, very small. The other type was a quarter inch larvae which were dark in color. Some tubes had no viable mason bee cocoons. Very disappointing.
Generally speaking I think the parasites destroyed half of my cocoons. None the less, my final count was an estimate of 250 viable cocoons.
A typical situation was the first and last mason bee cocoon were intact. But all the cocoons in between were consumed by the NASTY parasites.
The amazing thing is quite often all the bees were destroyed except for the very first one laid. I do not know why. Maybe the mother laid the egg and had, peak energy to pack the cell with a little extra clay. I don't know.
After removing all the cocoons I washed the cocoons in a very dilute water/bleach solution. Then I rinsed the cocoons in clean fresh water.
Interestingly, I found no cocoons which did not float.
After the rinse, I placed them on dry paper towel and then on a second dry paper towel.
I placed them in a JCPenney plastic bag (just like cloth, but very durable) which lets air flow freely. I put the entire bag in a large plastic jar and covered the hole with 1/4 inch hardware cloth.
Then, I put the whole thing in another plastic bag which allows air to flow freely.
Just like last fall I hung the storage on the north side of my outdoor shed.
Now I wait until March 15.
I have a number of photos of the bees during the cleaning process. The photos will be posted soon.
It has taken me 3 years to get to my current population.
The first year I put out a mason bee house. I got nothing. The second year i actually purchased four tubes of cocoons. The result was at the beginning of the 3rd year I had about 75 cocoons. Now at the end of the 3rd year I have 250 cocoons.
Here are the bees immediately after the
1) wash
2) rinse
Then
3) dry
4)store in cloth type bag
I estimate the total number is 250 cocoons.
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