Project: Save The Bees

I think everyone has been striving to find things to do to keep themselves occupied during this Covid 19 pandemic. The animals here at our rescue keep us more than busy, but this year, we decided to try our hand at raising bees. I have been concerned about the decline in bee populations so this has just been our way of giving back, even if its only in just a small way.

We started out with Mason bees this Spring, as they are early season bees and touted as one of the best pollinators. We set up our bee houses and waited somewhat impatiently, for our bees to arrive from Crown Bees. Prior to them getting here, I watched instructional videos and researched a lot online, and joined several bee keepers groups on Facebook. I wanted to make sure we did everything right. I was not however, prepared for what happened the day they arrived.

Our package came and I could not wait to open it up and take the cocoons out to the bee house so we could wait for them to hatch. So there I am, in our kitchen, carefully opening it up....imagine my surprise when i discovered several had hatched on route and were flying around our kitchen! We did mange to carefully catch them all and get them out to the bee house however. Mason bees are very gentle, and the males, which are always the first to hatch, have no stingers.

So about 4 or so weeks into this project, I figured it was time to toss out the empty cocoons so they would not attract parasites. I looked them over carefully (or so I thought) and placed them in the kitchen waste can. A couple days later we kept finding bees in our kitchen so I opened up the can and there were a couple crawling around inside! We got all the bees outside and I removed the cocoons and started examining them more closely and found several more that had only partially hatched or had not hatched at all. Not knowing what to do, I asked for help and found out how to get these trapped bees out.

Ever so carefully, I cut open the ends and released all the remaining trapped bees. A couple had died, and a couple others were very weak so I offered them cut flowers and you should have seen their little tongues come out and immediately start licking up the pollen! Once they were done, they eventually all few off....except one little female. She had hatched out with no wings, and her little body was somewhat deformed so she could not climb very well.

Knowing she had no chance to survive being unable to fly I created a little habitat for her to live out her days in. I filled it with low growing flowering ground covers, cotton balls soaked in sugar water and another bowl with ground up bee pollen. And there she lived for several weeks. The lifespan of a Mason been is only about 6 weeks, so I knew we wouldn't have her for long, but felt she deserved a chance. Little Lily was so gentle...females have stingers but she never tried to use it on me. I have always had a fear of most bees, and am the typical person who runs screaming with arms flailing when they come at me. She taught me so much in her short lifetime and I have lost most of my fear now. Except with it comes to wasps/yellow jackets. I doubt I will ever lose my fear of those!

Here are some pictures of Lily, her habitat, and some of the other Mason bees.

Meet Lily:

Here are some of the other Mason bees along with the makeshift bee house we put together. They like to lay their eggs in these little tubes, usually laying about 5 eggs in each hole, with a wad of pollen separating each egg, which the newly emerging bee larvae will feed on. They then plug the end of each hole with moist clay to seal it off.

Its important that Mason bees have access to clay so we kept moist clay in these hanging pots near each bee house for them to gather up for their nests.

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We didn't get a ton of babies for our first year, but they filled up these 5 reed tubes and a couple in the bee block tray. That's potentially 35 new babies next spring.

This is the proper way to store Mason bees until Fall. The organza bag allows for circulation but keeps pests out. In late Fall, we will remove all the cocoons from their tubes; wash them to get rid of any parasites and allow them to dry. They will then be placed into a special container and into our refrigerator to hibernate until next Spring.

Here Come The Leafcutter Bees!

With the Mason bees done usually by the end of June, its time to prepare for the Leaf cutter bees to arrive. These bees are much smaller than Masons, but are also very good pollinators and also known to be very gentle. They love the heat so the best time to order your cocoons is to have them arrive when you expect temperatures to be around 75 degrees.

Leafcutters live up to their name; instead of using mud in their tubes, they prefer to use bits of leaves. You can expect to find little holes in some of your garden plants where they have gathered materiel for their nests, but is a small price to pay to have these wonderful pollinators in your yard!

The bee house is hung at eye level so we can watch the bees going about their business, in a spot where they get early morning sun (which is important)! You want to choose a spot where they get sun early in the day, but not in the afternoon.

A newly hatched male gently sits in the palm of my hand.

Watching the bees emerging from their cocoons. Just like Mason's, the males hatch out a week or two before the females do.

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These are the typical holes you'll see Leafcutter's make in your plants.

Thinking About Bee Keeping?

Whats blooming in your yard?

There are several things I'd like to pass on to you if your considering keeping bees.

First, consider your yard. Its VERY important to have adequate food sources for the bees your keeping. If not, they will fly off and settle in elsewhere. Neither Mason Bees or especially Leafcutter Bees tend to travel far, but if there is little food sources, they will take off.

For Mason Bees, you need an ample supply of early and late Spring flowering plants. For Leafcutters, you need an ample supply of early to late summer/early Fall flowering plants. There are a number of websites online that list plants that bees are particularly fond of. For example, I discovered during my quest to add to our garden that some flowers that have multiple layers of frilly petals, are difficult for some bees to access the pollen out of. And many of the hybrid varieties have little to no pollen. Also, bees are attracted to certain colors more then others, simply because they are unable to see certain colors well.

I bought two gorgeous Miss Molly butterfly bushes this year, thinking the bees would love it, and it would also attract butterflies and humming birds, only to discover afterwards that these are a sterile hybrid, variety, and are useless in terms of a food source. I don't regret buying them as their blooms are absolutely stunning, but that was not my only goal when I bought them.

I found what helped me choose plants was to make a comprehensive list of flowers that bloom in early Spring, Summer and Fall, and carry it with me at all times, so that when I went shopping I'd know what to look for.

Another thing I did was every time I was in a nursery, I'd step back and observe which plants the bees were congregating on. I found numerous plants using that technique as well!

This year we have added over 60 new flowering perennials so far, in addition to all the annuals we pot up each year. This Fall I have 100 grape hyacinth bulbs coming our way for the Mason bees next Spring. We also plant a vegetable garden each year and I allowed last years collards and kale to go to seed because the bees LOVE feeding off the blossoms they produce. I have learned to leave dandelions alone because they are an important food source for native bees. At last count, we have well over 100 flowering perennials in our yard now, along with numerous flowering trees.

I see bees gravitating to many of the plants here, but hands down, they seem to love the blossoms on 2 in particular: Bee Balm and Oregano. At any time of the day, you will find bees literally all over both of these plants.

Equipment:

So there are several things you will need to keep Mason and Leafcutter Bees:

Bee house

Bee block trays

Reeds/cardboard tubes/paper inserts

Bees

The list of needs is much longer, depending on what your goal is. For example, we plan on removing the cocoons of each species at the appropriate time, washing them, and storing them for next years hatch. How you go about all of this differs from species to species. After you have decided which species you plan to keep, make sure you educate yourself before taking the plunge.

Some folks drill 6 inch long holes in a block of wood, hang it up outside and call it good. They let Mother Nature do its thing and don't mess with it from that point on. This can certainly work, but you stand a MUCH higher chance of parasites getting to your bees and killing them. You also have no way to know if mold/fungus has attacked your cocoons, which will also kill them, and there is zero chance of being able to clean it once the bees have emerged.

You can buy bee block trays, which come part for easy cleaning, and removing the cocoons from. You can also buy reeds, and some folks buy special cardboard tubes and put paper tube inserts into those. If you use the cardboard tubes, paper liners are highly recommended.

Reeds Versus Bamboo: Some bee houses come with bamboo tubes. Personally I find bamboo to be nothing but a giant headache. They are exceedingly difficult to open up to remove your cocoons from, without crushing the bees inside of them. Reeds on the other hand, open very easily. Since reed and bamboo look very similar, make sure you know what your buying.

I find that a combination of a bee block tray and some reeds make for a nice combo in a bee house. Bees however seem to prefer reeds. A bee block tray can be used year after year as long as you clean it well after each season. Reeds are a one-time only use.

Size Matters: Different species prefer different sized holes. Mason bees typically choose a 8mm sized hole so keep that in mind when buying tubes, reeds or a bee block tray. Leafcutters are a much smaller species and prefer a 6mm sized hole.

To learn more about keeping Mason and Leafcutter Bees, you will find many educational videos as well as bee keeping supplies (they also sell bees) Crown Bees: https://crownbees.com/

Bee Block Tray:

Cardboard tubes with paper inserts:

Natural Reeds:

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