Author: GarryF

Mason Bee Homes from Natural Reed Tubes- Phragmites

ARCHIVAL: This post has been re-dated from 2015 in order to position it closer in the blog to Mason Bee Information
The native reed grass here on Vancouver Island, Phragmites australis subsp. americanus provides the best tubes as homes for Mason bee larvae. This is from the native, non-invasive reed grass.

I am selling these for $10.00 for 2 dozen tubes.(OLD PRICE) They can be used one season, then split open easily to harvest mason bee cocoons for the next year’s pollination season.  (and then added to your compost!)

phragmites tubes for mason beesSee other information about Phragmites and the harvest of it:

Some advantages of using Phragmites tubes over other commercially available tubes:

  • Phragmites reeds are impervious to the parasitic wasp Monodontomerus, which can damage mason bee populations in thin straws.
  • Reeds are cut at the node providing a natural wall providing a plug that allows moisture to escape while preventing water from entering the reed.
  • You can build an inexpensive home by putting them in a piece of sewer pipe or a straight-walled jar, or you can assemble a wooden box to hold them. See several suggestions in the link above

Contact me to reserve your tubes for the spring 2016 season at the following e-mail:  garryf (use the at sign) gmail.com

Mason Bee (Blue Orchard Bee) tube cleaning and unidentified wasp larvae.

NOTE: I have updated this 2015 post in order to make it appear closer to the other mason bee information

masonbeefulltube
Successful mud-filled tubes of Mason bees.

masonbeewasptubeThe photo above is of one of the better colonized box of tubes from the summer of 2015. Each mud-sealed tube in this box will contain on average 5 mason bee cocoons.

In the lower section of the box shown below, several mud plugs are of lighter colour and a smoother texture. I have found that these ones are colonized completely by another bee, I thought they may probably be resin bees , but now I have found out they are from the Subfamily Eumeninae (Potter and Mason Wasps):

See  hatched bee/wasp images  in May 1/2016 post: https://www.gfletcher.ca/?p=1538

When the tubes from several boxes which had the light coloured mud plugs were split open they appear as in the photo below.

2015-12-22wasplarve2
In opening my tubes for cleaning in the winter, I saved several tubes which are probably resin bees which are also pollinators. I have saved these in a separate container to see what hatches from them. Resin bees hatch when the weather gets warmer in later summer. That’s why these are still in the larval stage.

Other postings on parasites

NOTE: I have updated this 2015 post in order to make it appear closer to the other mason bee information

Time to Clean Out the Mason Bee Boxes

NOTE. I have redated this 2017 posting to make it appear closer to the other mason bee posts. I had moved all my Mason Bee Boxes inside in the late summer so am now extracting the cocoons and cleaning them up for storage in the refrigerator.

I was surprised how successful the longest tubes which I used (9 inches),  have been this season. Below is a picture showing the number of cocoons I am regularly obtaining from these long tubes.

 

 

 

 

 

Mason Bees for sale for the 2016 Spring Season

ARCHIVAL: This post has been re-dated from 2015 in order to position it closer in the blog to Mason Bee Information
masonlongLast year with the long warm season, our mason bees on the farm were successful in filling  a large number of reed tubes with cocoons.  Now I am removing them from the tubes, cleaning them  and storing in the refrigerator until release time from the end of February until the end of June. I will be selling them locally again for a price much below that of  commercial outlets and they are available immediately at the price of $6.00 per dozen cocoons.

Also, one of my last year’s clients showed me the mason bee house he had made with cutting channels in wood. He also included a section with reed grass tubes which I had given to him to try out. The comparison was quite astounding, as can be seen in this photograph  with a definite preference for the Phragmites reed grass tubes being demonstrated.
2015-12-01 13.44.06

I will be selling a limited number of these reed tubes for $5.00 a dozen this year.

Contact me at this e-mail: garryf (use the @sign) then add gmail dot com.

Video of Parasitic Pollen Mites

I took this video with my iphone of pollen mites in November when I was cleaning out the mason bee phragmites tubes. This was the first time had seen so much movement of the mites. Removing of the cocoons from their tubes early in the fall can help to control infestations of these mites. If you don’t clean out the colony  and refridgerate the cocoons until release in the spring, eventually  the mites will lead do a large decline in productivity and therefore pollination.

A quote from the website  of Crown Bees

Pollen Mites

  • What it is: Pollen mites, more specifically Krombein’s hairy-footed mites, are clear and you need a magnifier to see them. What you can see easily is an orange mass that is mite feces. Pollen mites are found throughout North America; more in moist environments than arid. If you don’t harvest your cocoons, the pollen mites are reintroduced into your yard which accelerates the decline of your nesting mason bees. The mites also stay within an opened hole waiting for more pollen delivered by an unsuspecting mason bee.
  • What it does: A pollen mite’s role in life is to eat pollen. They hitchhike on the backs of insects from flower to flower to find more pollen. Unfortunately, they also hitchhike into nesting holes and eat the mason bee’s pollen loaf. The pollen mite either eats the egg and then the pollen loaf, or just the pollen loaf and the larva then starves.
  • What to do: As you harvest your mason bee cocoons in the fall keep an eye out for signs of pollen mites. We recommend dry brushing reusable wooden trays with a stiff brush to remove debris and pollen mites. You might also bake your wood trays at 250 degrees for 20 minutes. Harvesting mason bee cocoons is the easiest and best way to reduce pollen mite infections.

Feedback from a satisfied Mason Bee customer

ARCHIVAL: This post has been re-dated from 2016 in order to position it closer in the blog to Mason Bee Information
Feedback from a satisfied customer:

On Sun, Nov 6, 2016 at 12:29 PM, Cindy wrote:

Hi Garry!

Success!! we took apart the tubes and the plastic tubes from our mason bee house. Our first year and we started with 36 cocoons from you and ended up with 141!
We’ve brushed them off nicely and have them settled in a wee container in the fridge.. here are a few pictures for you.
we found, in one tube, a small fly and assumed it must be a parasitic wasp?? Anyways..enjoy the pictures and we will get in touch to get some more tubes in the spring 🙂

Phragmites australis subsp. americanus: the native reed grass on Vancouver Island

phragmites

NOTE: I have updated this 2015 post in order to make it appear closer to the other mason bee information.

You will find many articles on the internet about the invasive species of Phragmites but the one that grows here on Vancouver Island is the Native species, Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. subsp. americanus. 

The following article on the Metchosin Coastal website describes an example of  misidentification of this species in British Columbia. titled:

A new Lease on Life for the Rare Marsh Plant: Phragmites australis subsp. americanus–A note of caution when attempting to control Invasive Species.  

http://metchosinmarine.ca/gf/a-new-lease-on-life/

 

Effect of Heat on Mason Bee Development.

 

NOTE: I have updated this 2015 post in order to make it appear closer to the other mason bee information

This summer we have had unprecedented high temperatures in Metchosin so I was interested to receive an e-mail from a customer which referenced a website providing an alert on summer heat!

2015-08masonbeehomes-down
Mason Bee Boxes just removed from my house wall leaning against the stairway.
This was the mason bee house from the south side of the barn. Note high percentage of sealed tubes.
This was the mason bee house from the south side of the barn. Note high percentage of succesfully sealed tubes. Each tube averages 6 cocoons.

From the  Crown Bees website:

“ALERT- What happens with a warmer-than-normal summer:With too much heat, development speeds up. Your mason bees become “complete” adults too soon and begin to consume their internal stored fats much sooner. As it is very warm, their metabolism is high and their consumption of stored fats is accelerated. Very likely these bees may run out of this life-preserving “fuel” mid-winter and die.

In the Pacific Northwest where Crown Bees is headquartered, we have enjoyed a wonderfully warm summer and as a result, I’m very concerned about our mason bees. You should be as well.

What to do:
If in the Northwest, place all of your developing mason bees someplace cooler, like the north side of your house, in a cool garage, or similar. Don’t place the bees into a refrigerator yet, but do have them in a cooler environment between 60-70°F. Do not ignore me on this.  Northwest temperatures have been 10-15°F (5-9° C) higher than normal and I believe next year’s bees are in jeopardy today. ”
So in the absence of any proof, I decided to move all my mason bee houses today from the south walls and store them in a cool area of my barn.

Mason bee homes
Some of the Mason Bee homes moved in out of the heat.

 

Attracting pollinators

NOTE: I have updated this 2015 post in order to make it appear closer to the other mason bee information

We seem to have no problem with insect pollinators here. By providing  certain plants which flower at different times in the year, insect pollinators can be attracted.  I show a few plants here that have been  very effective in the last few weeks and have swarms of pollinators around.

 

Keep Predators Away from Mason Bee Tubes

ARCHIVAL: This post has been re-dated from 2016 in order to position it closer in the blog to Mason Bee Information
I had a report recently from a mason bee  enthusiast telling me that his mason bee colony had been attacked by rats and most of the cocoons had been taken. These images show what happened. One thing I note in the pictures is that the house wqas on a fence with a platform in front of the bank of tubes. It is best to have nothing that birds or rodents can stand on, and that might have prevented this type of predation.  If one is concerned at this time of year, it would be a good idea to gently fasten a fine mesh wire screen to the opening of the box, or since the activity of the bees is probably finished, moe the house to a cooler safe location — gently because you want to be sure that the bee eggs have been secured into the food matrix.