Bee Hotels

mrbadexample

Pixiechic wrote: »

mrbadexample - I wish I could thank you more than once! Thank you, the pics make it so much easier to understand and they look great!

You want nice smooth holes. They don't like little splintery bits of wood round the entrance. I used a blowtorch to remove any.

The current hole of choice for a red mason bee is about 8mm.

I must have at least half a dozen buzzing about round the log. No action from the other one yet though, although that's on an east-facing wall (only space I had).

harrys_nan

mrb, i dont want to talk to you anymore,:p dont you dare get frogs now or I will be mad,:D

harrys_nan

off to look at my bee house,
back now.
Well I've just found I have 3, not two and they were facing the wrong way, more to the east, so I have just moved them southish, the best I could do.

Pixiechic

mrbadexample wrote: »

You want nice smooth holes. They don't like little splintery bits of wood round the entrance. I used a blowtorch to remove any.

The current hole of choice for a red mason bee is about 8mm.

I must have at least half a dozen buzzing about round the log. No action from the other one yet though, although that's on an east-facing wall (only space I had).

Thank you again, so helpful I will need a blow torch!

Let us know when the bees move in, it would be amazing to see!

Emm-in-a-pickle

Congrats MrBadexample - I understand your unspeakable happiness! I`m going back outside to watch my bees...

Emm-in-a-pickle

I`ve just thought to add - the Mason bees will need access to water/mud, so if it`s going to be very dry this month remember to leave some handy. We had an old plastic bucket with soil in and just kept it really wet.

Saturnalia

I was coming on here to ask if anyone had a bee house, I've just ordered one for £6 on Amazon! I hope I get bees using it, we really don't see many bees any more. :-(

I never knew some kinds of bee are loners, I thought they all lived in big hives & nests.

A few years ago I found a poorly-looking bee on my windowsill and I fed it sugared water on a teaspoon. It perked up and flew off, then came back to visit every day for weeks!

Emm-in-a-pickle

That Amazon £6 bee-hotel looks very like our Aldi ones, similar price too. Good luck with yours, Saturnalia - now is just the right time to be putting it up.
I`m not brave enough to go for keeping hive bees, nor would I have the time or knowledge to look after it properly, but the Solitary bees just need somewhere to nest and they get on with the rest by themselves. Bless`em!

savingpennies

I've just been reading about the EU banning a particular pesticide that appears to kill bees. The pharmaceutical companies are against it ('more research needed' apparently!) but I know that last year I had trouble getting my tomatoes pollinated and encouraged the bees into the greenhouse by laying 'avenue' of flowering plants in pots that led them to the greenhouse. So this year I think it is time to give the bees a helping hand. I'm planting more lavender about my garden and underplanting my plum and blueberries with nepeta (catmit). I'm on the lookout for bee hotels too. I have lots of birds visiting my garden as I feed them and my tiny pond has tadpoles in it for the second year running, so this year I want to focus on the bees and butterflies. After all, the pleasure of gardening isn't just about the flowers, fruits and veg but the other visitors that lend a hand too!

pinkcandyflossprincess

well I have bees live in my house, not sure if thats a good thing or not:eek: I think they are masonry bees?
noticed a load coming from care home that backs onto my garden too...they seem to come out of the top bit of wall that joins roof and seem happy around my flowers so whatever they are..just leaving them to it. not so happy though with wasps at front of house..got that netting stuff on windows though so thankfully can leave window open and not find a bedroom full. the first time i found a bathroom of bees though i freaked out so blocked up the ventilation and now they seem to just fly out side of house.

If i put up bee houses do you think they would leave the house ??