Tag: mason bees

Phragmites tubes and Mason Bee Cocoons–2025 season

See all my posts on Mason Bees here https://www.gfletcher.ca/?cat=2

I will not know until the spring of 2025 if I will have mason bee cocoons to sell this year, as results in my boxes here in the southern end of Vancouver Island were very poor this year– most likely a weather-related cause. However, I do have for sale, Phragmites reed grass tubes for culturing mason bees .   I can ship the tubes through the mail.–  For customers who are not local, I package these tubes in lots of 30 for $15.00 plus shipping costs of $7:00. So 15 tubes =$22.00, (Canadian) Included are a variety of lengths and diameters. A few smaller diameters attract other mason bee species and leafcutter bees. Indicate the maximum tube length you prefer when ordering.

See all my posts on Mason Bees here https://www.gfletcher.ca/?cat=2
If I have enough Cocoons this year I will sell 25 Mason Bee Cocoons for $25.00 for pick up at my farm in Metchosin. Please check with me first by email before ordering.
NOTE: I DO NOT SEND COCOONS BY MAIL. you can pick them up at the farm

The native reed Phragmites australis ssp. americanus  is grown on my farm. These are  considered to be the best tubes for encouraging the native mason bee pollinators….Check out the reasons for using Phragmites tubes and comparisons with other types of tubes here: 

Also by putting out the tubes alone without releasing bees, you can in some areas attract the native pollinators to build their nests in the empty tubes anyway.  That’s the way I first obtained mason bee cocoons.

See below for details on ordering if you cannot pick them up at the farm. I can have these available at any time of year, and it is best to get them set out by mid-March. 

For shipping in Canada, the price for 30 tubes=$22.00 Canadian

For shipping in Canada, the price for 60 tubes=$44.00 Canadian

For shipping in Canada, the price for 100 tubes=$70.00 Canadian

For shipping in Canada, the price for 130 tubes=$90.00 Canadian

In a separate email with your address, state your size preference as sizes 4″ (10cm) to 7 “(18 cm)  or mixed are available. This will depend on the depth of the box you have in which to put them, as there should be at least a 2 inch overhang to keep out the rain–
Use the email garryf followed by the@ sign then gmail.com for e-transfers address

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Scroll down through other posts to see my suggestions for building inexpensive Mason bee homes out of recycled and re-purposed material

See all posts on Mason Bees here https://www.gfletcher.ca/?cat=2

Phragmites Reed Tubes vs Plastic tube-trays for Mason Bees.


Cindy, one of my regular mason bee customers has had to move East and she was so dedicated to her mason bees that she left them with me to look after.  She had run a small experiment in her bee box that I thought would be useful to comment on here.

Today I opened the tubes to remove the Cocoons for storage over winter in the refrigerator.

On first glance, the plastic containers appear to have a good number of successful plugged tubes. When the plastic containers were opened however, it was obvious that mites had taken a large toll on the cocoons:

Top and bottom halves of the plastic containers, The parasitic wasps were present in many of the plastic tubes.

 

I was interested in comparing the productivity of the phragmites tubes versus the plastic tubes so I kept track of the number tubes, the number of cocoons and the number of tubes with parasitic mites. Here are the results:

Number of plastic tubes: 24    —  Number of phragmites tubes: 18

Number cocoons in plastic=108 — Number cocoons in phrag= 91

Ave. number -plastic tube=4.5—-Average number-phrag.tube =5

Mite-infected-plastic tubes=14  —- Mite-infected-phrag. tubes=2


So it appears from this small sample that the Phragmites tubes produced more cocoons and had fewer mite infestations.

 

NOTE : I have created this post in order to place it closer to the recent mason Bee posts

 

Phragmites Reed Harvest and Mason Bee Tube Preparation

In January and February I harvest the native reed grass tubes  from the seasonally flooded estuary on on my property.  It is important to do this now before any new shoots start to emerge, as trampling could wipe out the reed bed.  Trampling by livestock has probably been the cause of the elimination of the native Phragmites sp.  from other estuaries on Vancouver Island.

Diving into the base of the reeds to cut out the one in 100 or so stems which will be large enough to provide  mason bee tubes.

Stacking up the cut reeds from the swamp

Carrying the bundle to my house for cutting.

Cutting the Phragmites reeds near the nodes to produce the tubes for the mason bees.

sorting the reeds and making bundles.

 

 

Washing Mason Bee Cocoons

Please Note: although i recommend washing in this video, I am not so sure that it is a good idea, as the year in which I did it, I had very poor hatching.. now I just do a thorough brushing in a sand bath and I have no problems with mites.    update 2024:  I have updated this 2016. post to move it closer to the other mason bee information this year I washed the cocoons and made sure I dried them thoroughly afterwards to prevent mould. 

After removing the cocoons from their tubes, it is important to give them a good wash to get rid of mites.  I do not use a bleach solution as some do, as I don’t think it is a very natural product and incorrect concentrations could have harmful effects.. I have no problem controlling the mite population either. .. I use three changes of lukewarm water in a large container. Then scoop them out by hand and dry on paper towels before putting in a plastic peanut butter jar in the fridge to hibernate until bloom time.

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

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 🙂