Sometimes I use the wrong word. Yesterday, when someone asked, “What’s a hatching box?” I felt sheepish. I should have written emergence box in my post on lovage. Here’s the question: I planted some lovage, and I too thought the stems would make good nesting tubes. So now I must ask, what is a hatching box? […] Read more
Who says bees don’t like castles and cabins, chalets and caves, or even cabanas and condominiums? As the saying goes, “Build them and they will come.” And they do. Pat Barberi of Barre, Vermont has made of hobby of creating unique but functional solitary bee houses from miscellaneous vessels she finds at the secondhand shop. […] Read more
This has been a season of firsts. I love to try new things and this year I’ve experimented with new styles of pollinator housing, three new types of comb honey supers, new honey bee feeders, new watering methods, and many new bee plants. Of all the bee plants on my list, I was most excited […] Read more
Most of us who want to attract native bees to our yards and gardens do so by providing housing in the form of tubes, straws, hollow reeds, or drilled wood. While there is nothing wrong with this, the irony is that fully 70%—or nearly three-quarters—of all bee species live underground. Above ground cavities are completely […] Read more
The problem with bumble bee boxes is getting the bees to move in. Depending on the type of house and the location, average occupancy rates range from about 10% to 60%, but the number I see most often is 30%. So how can you in increase it? One thing obvious about bumble bees is that […] Read more
The conventional wisdom about nesting blocks is that you take a 5/16-inch bit and drill holes that are roughly 5-10 inches long. This will attract orchard mason bees, which is typically what people are trying to do with nesting blocks. But recently my whole attitude toward these blocks was changed by Michael Burgett, Emeritus Professor […] Read more
If you’ve made or purchased a bumble bee box, you are probably wondering where to put it and how to attract tenants. I’ve scanned dozens of documents looking for the secret formula and learned that location is the most important criterion, followed by nesting material. Moisture control runs a close third. Even so, most bumble […] Read more