Solitary bees - 3 minutes of peace & tranquillity

Time spent watching my solitary bees going about their business can be very soothing and fascinating.
Here I have stitched together sequences on a cold day in May this year.
Later in the film one of the female bees falls out of her tube onto her back, and because she struggles a bit I give one a little nudge. Her reaction is just to carry on, simply returning to her activity. They are gentle creatures doing their best for the planet and their progeny.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Solitary bees
• peace and tranquillity
• nature
• native bees

[solitarybee]

Good luck with it (hope it's stopped raining)

For the benefits of the wider discussion/project let us know if you find a way of distinguishing between the two and later, if hemlock is a possible candidate for solitary bee habitats. Cheers.

[realcelestialphoenix]

hemlock has a purple and green stem when it's fresh. looks the same as hogweed when dried- but thanks for the advice, i'll give it a go when it stops raining!

[solitarybee]

My use of Hogweed was something I just tried out this year because I saw the internal diameters were about right. So maybe you should try the hemlock (I don't know it but its flower looks similar to h/w ). Let the bees decide and offer paper-tubes alongside.

I had thirty successful tube were sealed in end. Do remember to seal the back end or cut under a growth knuckle so no light comes in.

[realcelestialphoenix]

there's loads where i live- but it's mixed in with the hemlock

-will hemlock (dried stems) effect the bees?

[solitarybee]

Indeed, that's why I specified "dried". I collected and cut old hollow stems at at the start of the year before the new growth. The odour of the dried stems (if there is one) doesn't seem to put off the bees.

[realcelestialphoenix]

whatever you do- dont get the sap over your skin

-it'll come out is massive blisters and sore spots....

[solitarybee]

I make the tubes myself - brown/recycled paper wrapped around a dowelling of the right? diameter + sellotaped. The back-ends are sealed with the same mud from the garden that they use ('smells' natural to them). Can make them quite easily, quickly and at no real cost. Plus off-season it's something to do in front of the telly!

My tubes weigh 2 grammes and with up to 8+ cells they've gone up 6g more.

[solitarybee]

...so you can see that this year (apart from my observation bee box lower down) I have been trying out some new habitats. These home-made paper tubes have got my vote for the moment, but the abundance of nearby hogweed + bulrush reeds is another cool possibility.

...and yes, making the paper tubes 'off-season' is a greater little time filler in the winter months... you'd be surprised how many people are happy to lend a hand and sit around a table making them.

[solitarybee]

These are great, but you have to grow or buy the bamboo and then you can't split it (at risk of damaging the cocooned bees) to monitor the cocoons. Nor can you keep down the parasites (I have Cacoxenus indagator) or ensure that failed cells do not obstruct the cocoon emerging bees placed behind them, and new nests.

A good free alternative to bamboo I discovered this year is 'Hogweed'. When dried most of the hollow stems are the perfect diameter for Osmies and other bees (see 26th April vid ).

[rosmarinusofficialis]

I had a look at your "26th April - a new specie arrives" video and I can now clearly see how you made the tubes etc.