Solitary bee nesting box

[silvergun7]

nice video. we have just built a bee box (holes in wood)and some bees have moved in, but can you tell me do they hatch in the same year or dothey over winter ,then hatch

[solitarybee]

Sorry for my very slow response... it will depend on the species exactly when they hatch, but they usually winter then hatch. Out of curiosity how many holes have been drilled/ sealed? Have you seen and know the species?

[silvergun7]

I drilled about 30 holes of different sizes but they only went into the 8mm ones and sealed up about 15(i didnt put it up until lat August). As to the species all the ones I saw were orangey brown in colour and carying leaves, however when I looked closer some of the holes had been sealed with mud which I guess suggests a different kind of bee, Does the population increase in the same location year after year or do the ones that hatch fly off to other areas?

[solitarybee]

@silvergun7 Hi there... real sorry I appeared to have to have missed your question when you posted it. Hope you are having further successes this season. Cool you got leafcutters last year - they seem to come later in the year and summer bees are often smaller - it's easier for handling heat, but I think they do use mud to seal. If there are clean free tunnels they'll return because of the signs and odours that accumulate. We've got a solitary bee campaign page on facebook - come and join us!

[rosmarinusofficialis]

Which is their preferred position, vertical or horizontal?

How long have you had these bees?

[solitarybee]

The tubes/tunnels are horizontal (I have never got round to asking the bees ;) - I lean out of the window to catch the activity which is above the door. The tunnels have to be horizontal because they would otherwise have problems with rain.

[solitarybee]

Oh yes, the population have been there between the bricks since at least the 1950's but as I wanted to repoint the mortar between the bricks in 2006 I came up with this idea of trying to transfer their nesting activities to the observation box.

Now it's turned into a little web campaign to encourage others to raise these bees... it might be necessary if we are losing honey bees.

[realcelestialphoenix]

awesome:-

could you post instructions on how to build that please?

[solitarybee]

@realcelestialphoenix hope you found the how to build video I have posted on my channel - at least four other people have built something similar and the bees are taking up the offer.

[sigma1920]

ah, now i know that the tubes are set horizontally, after all.

sorry 4 my stupid question posted before. lol

ur nesting box looks great!

[solitarybee]

It's not a silly question. I am pleased that you take an interest, and eventually on my blog I will be showing the full set up I have.

[solitarybee]

Sent you a P.M. and I finally saw your Mason Bee block video, great! If you want post it as a response video to one of mine and I'll reciprocate!

[Schabe2412]

Tauben und Spatzen im Hintergrund *gg* hört sich an wie bei mir zu Haus'!

[solitarybee]

Yes, you are right! There are a lot of pigeons (Tauben) and sparrows (Spatzen) in the garden. The sparrows (there are about 3 families) nest only 3 metres away under the roof. Thanks for commenting Schabe2412. :)