Day: May 2, 2021

Wasp larvae in mason bee tubes yields newly hatched adults.

NOTE: I have updated this 2016 post in order to make it appear closer to the other mason bee information2015-12-22wasplarve2.

When cleaning out the mason bee tubes and recovering cocoons in the winter, I came across several tubes which had been completely colonized by another species of bee/wasp. Images and comments on this can be found in this post:

So now I am trying to get this species identified and will update when I find out. June 6 post shows the identification

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Unidentified wasp/bee :Currently under inquiry with the experts.

 

At first I thought these were the paper wasps as they held their wings outspread but the image below of those wasps from the Polistinae family shows a completely different body pattern. Dr. Matthias Buck of the Royal Edmonton Museum is working on samples of these to do DNA sequencing.

 

Why Cleaning Mason Bee tubes after November is Important

NOTE: I have updated this 2016 post in order to make it appear closer to the other mason bee information

Today I came across two unopened reed tubes which I had forgotten  in the refrigerator so the cocoons had not hatched out.  The image below shows why it is important to clean your tubes out in the winter and not leave them until late spring.

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One cocoon remains on the left at the inside base of the tube. It had a live female which when she hatched would have had to crawl out of the tube through several compartments filled with mites, represented by the orange deposits they leave after consuming  parasitised larval bees.  The mites are in the compartments on the right side, toward the open end of the tube.

If people leave mason bee homes out unattended from year to year, the parasite population expands . They wouldn’t be so successful in the wild where mason bee nests are more dispersed in holes in wood or under tree bark. . When we provide homes for them however, along with increasing the bee population, we are also  multiplying  the success of the parasites. So if we are going to encourage bee populations, it is our responsibility to attend to the cocoons in the fall or winter to be sure they are not contaminated with a new generation of mites.