No bees but plenty of squash bugs

[Britesea]

We don't keep bees (DH is allergic) but we do encourage mason and other wild bees by setting up houses for them and making sure we have pollen available for as long as possible given our unpredictable weather. I think one of the neatest things I ever saw was watching a bumble bee settle down to sleep in a flower (I think it was a daisy but I can't really remember) and watching her wrap herself in a couple of the petals, as if she was pulling a blanket around her.

 

[cabinguy]

We don't keep bees (DH is allergic) but we do encourage mason and other wild bees by setting up houses for them and making sure we have pollen available for as long as possible given our unpredictable weather. I think one of the neatest things I ever saw was watching a bumble bee settle down to sleep in a flower (I think it was a daisy but I can't really remember) and watching her wrap herself in a couple of the petals, as if she was pulling a blanket around her.

Mason Bees are native and can pollinate 100 times better than honey bees without the honey. Do you harvest the cocoons ?

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Oooooh, another thing to go look up! (Sometimes when I'm here, I wonder what I've been doing my whole life since there's always so much more to learn!) I never even heard of harvesting the cocoons, and wouldn't know a mason bee if one came up and landed on me.I just joined some Facebook groups for gardening in our area, so hopefully I'll learn more on this. @cabinguy, what do you do with the cocoons after you harvest them?

 

[cabinguy]

Oooooh, another thing to go look up! (Sometimes when I'm here, I wonder what I've been doing my whole life since there's always so much more to learn!) I never even heard of harvesting the cocoons, and wouldn't know a mason bee if one came up and landed on me.I just joined some Facebook groups for gardening in our area, so hopefully I'll learn more on this. @cabinguy, what do you do with the cocoons after you harvest them?

Mason Bee houses have tubes or reeds in them . The Mason bees crawl into the tubes and lay eggs and then they seal the tube with mud. The eggs turn into cocoons by fall. In the fall you open the tube and harvest the cocoon and clean them with a bit of bleach and water to sterilize them. then you can keep them in your fridge till spring set them in your house and they will emerge to pollinate. if your looking for a pollinator its lots of fun and less start up cost than honey bees but no honey. check out the link im sure they can explain better

 

[Britesea]

I've never harvested the cocoons-- didn't know you could do that. unfortunately, my fridge is usually so full I'd probably lose them in there, lol

 

[baymule]

Why not just leave them where they are?

 

[cabinguy]

Why not just leave them where they are?

Aw leaving them would be to easy you harvest the cocoons because they have many predators such as wasp,
leaf-cutters and pollen mites to name a few; they are also susceptible to fungal diseases. When you put them out in the spring time
it allows you to place them as needed some by the garden,fruit trees and berries. They have a smaller foraging range than honey bees of approx 100 yds . When you harvest the cocoons you can tell the males and female apart based on the size of the cocoon so you can make sure to place them in the houses with both sexes. Good question

 

[baymule]

Well that makes sense.