I devoted a corner of our double lot around our home and garden to developing fish-free ponds to help frogs survive. In response, my mate, Salmonwoman then said, “If you’ve got frogs, then I’ve getting bees.”
Over the last few years she has obtained several batches of mail order bees in cocoons. The supplier is in Washington. These are called mason bees and leaf cutters, both in Megahilid genera.
Sometimes she has to refrigerate the cocoons before placing them outside, while waiting for appropriate weather. Once outside, the bees awake from their cocoons in their south-facing bee houses.
They go forth and busily pollinate all summer. The grapes don’t rely on bees to pollinate; the wind is usually enough. However, the bees help produce healthy surroundings for the grapes, by benefiting the cover crops and blossoming plants.
These bees don’t have hives. Instead, as the season progresses, they lay eggs in the bee tubes that Salmonwoman also set out in the bee houses. The Mason bees seal the tubes with mud. The leaf cutters use leaves.
We are checking on the bees’ survival and reproductive success in the brutally hot two weeks we’ve had recently in the Pacific Northwest.
Here is a picture of the leaf cutter bees’ house with some full tubes They are apparently celebrating Christmas early, by plugging up the tubes with red and green leaves. The young leaf cutter eggs in those tubes will overwinter as larvae. We’ll bring the tubes into the garage for the winter, to protect them from weather and parasites.
What’s the payoff? Last year we had 1 bunch of grapes. This year we'll have over 100. Our vegetable garden is booming. We’re giving the bees some of the credit for this bounty.
However you can also see that not all of the bee tubes are occupied. We may not have as large a colony next year. Salmonwoman is also concerned that putting more bee cocoons out in the current 100 degree weather will kill many of them. Bees are not returning to more recently set-out tubes.
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Seeing any bees? Please post your observations and general location in your comments. I’ll check back by dinnertime.
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