Solitary bees putting pollen in nesting tubes

[BotanyVideo]

Thank you - awesome - best wishes on learning and supporting native solitary bees!

[jonolemon]

Fantastic ! I didn't know the plastic tube system ! Many thanks for sharing ^^

[solitarybee]

It was something I just come up with and has been already copied by someone here on YT in France (nd6a6v6es) after I sent hime some shots.  Am building a better system where the tubes are staggered - video to come - so that can observe more activity at any one time.

[rosmarinusofficialis]

This is superb. I am thinking of getting some tubes. Do you have any black bees? This is what the Royal Society said in today's newsletter (excuse if you have signed up to the letters) " Britain could be saved from the potentially devastating effects of a collapse in its bee population by turning to the native black honeybee, according to a new study."

[solitarybee]

I don't know what bees you refer to, but I have filmed a number of large carpenter bees which come up as the main google result. They like lavender and wysteria flowers. However I am not sure that they are the ones you are referring to... have you the species latin name?

[simbirdcom]

Great video ~ I've just put up an insect tower with these tubes :-)

Do I just wait know or there anything else I could do to attract the bees

[solitarybee]

Tubes are great for observing but can get humidity and mould problems after 2seasons; you need to disinfect and rotate with fresh tubes. One thing that works is - if you already have bees emerging nearby - is to smear their 'evacuations' on the front surface of your tower. I did this with a newly drilled wood block and the scent (I believe) resulted in the habitat being adopted within 90 minutes of drilling and placement.

Would love to see what you have built; Have you any videos/pictures?

[simbirdcom]

It is a insect tower which i've bought... it has both tubes for bees and chamber for butterflies... which are attracted to the solar powered light inside ? I will video and upolad for you to see... but I will build my own too ;-)

[solitarybee]

That sounds pretty complex, but cool. I look forward to seeing the set up and results. :)

[sigma1920]

great and interesting.

ur annotations r very helpful.

im a bit surprised that they seemed not to be disturbed by light.

(the nest tubings are usually kept in the dark, right?)

[solitarybee]

The lid of the box is only off for a few minutes while I film, and as they are quite frantic trying to not let other females steal their work, they won't abandon their investment for a few moments of light.

[solitarybee]

Yes, I film them from a window sill from the first foor, and above the main door of the courtyard. They are more active at that height (less disturbed by us). It's only a matter of days (maybe even this weekend) that they begin to emerge and I hope to catch them coming out of the cocoons.

Do you have a native bee project/population yourself?

[solitarybee]

Sorry I was a bit slow in replying... the tube internal diameter is just under 10mm which seems to be fine. They offer a great insight into what's going on (if you leave the lid detachable and you can film above it).

As you can see one of the bees (@2:36) is able to completely turn around in this tube space!

I also made some paper straws - brown paper around a wooden dowel - when my box tubes were all filled and those were about 9mm.

[ragnar704]

When I was first watching this, I assumed the tubes were vertically oriented. But from your comment, it seems they are actually horizontal. Is that correct?

Thanks for posting the video, by the way!

[eccentricoldcow]

This is very interesting and I want to make a similar house for mine, as the holes are all different sizes and there was much competition this year for the nesting tubes.

Good luck for next year, and I hope they continue to come year after year. What size is the plastic tubing you have used?