Re: [gardeners]bees
Linda Baranowski-Smith (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 20 Apr 1999 21:50:20 -0500
I was watching HGTV the other day and they showed a mason bee house
>but there were no bees in it. Does anyone have one of these houses and what
>do you think about them?
>
>Kris P
>Z 5 IL
Hi Kris!
Tnx for the hand lotion advice.
About Mason Bees... I bought a Mason Bee Kit (the house containing bees and
a booklet) for my husband and he's had them going for 4 years now. Since
you're in IL, the procedure to keep them would likely be similar. They are
now in the refrigerator in the garage. We put them out in the spring when
the daytime temps stay above 50 F and hard frost is over. Then they hatch
readily from their cells and get to work, going through their cycle
regularly over the season. In the fall, the bee house containing bees goes
back into the fridge until spring.
We put the bee house on a south facing wall that has some shelter from the
west winds. The only problem we've had is expanding the population. We
built more houses with the same size holes but the bees don't seem to like
them. We used pine as the house they came in looks like pine. Haven't
figured why they won't use the additional houses. However, we like them
and they're good little workers.
Linda in NW Ohio near Toledo/Lake Erie, USDA Zone 5
llbs@mail.glasscity.net