It wasn't always the case but for the past several years we have put aside all pesticides. You all know that our pollinators are having great difficulty maintaining their population with very likely pesticides being a major factor.
So lately a perennial loved by bees is an important factor for us in choosing a plant for our garden.
But we want to do more. So we were thinking of placing these "Mason Bee houses" around our yard.
(eg http://www.masonbeehomes.com/bee-houses-mason-bee-pro-bee-block or http://markcullen.com/home-hardware/marks-choice-mason-bee-house/)
Do any of you put up such homes to help out "Mason Bees"?
You provide shelter for bees?
Great question Rouge!
I have seen them and wondered about them also, so looking forward to seeing others post.
We bought our house 4 years ago and there was/is this tree in the front yard and all the bees flock to it. Jokingly we called it " the bee tree". Last winter we had one big heavy snow that brought many of the branches down and the whole tree fell over with the weight of the snow....the roots were 1/2 out of the ground. It's about 9-10 ft tall. My DH got a wench and put it back upright as best as he could and placed supports for the trunk. I checked it out on line and it's actually CALLED a Korean Bee tree :-) it's a lot smaller branchwise but we really love this tree....also planting as many perennials in our garden that attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
I'm glad this subject has been brought up. We certainly need to protect our bees.
We decided last summer to let the clover grow in our grass. We let the blooms grow for awhile before we cut the grass. Our neighbors probably don't like us, but the bees love the clover and there's nothing better than clover honey!
At my garden club this Tuesday we have a guest speaker coming to do a talk on Mason Bees. Later we will be making bee tubes as a group project for the club to sell. Think I might have to participate in this project....lol. Hope the snow holds off till after our meeting!!! (3-8")
Perfect kathy! Please report back with all the details!
Valal, you made me google Korean Bee Tree to see what it is. From googling, looks like it's an evodia. Is that the tree you mean? It's funny to me because as soon as I saw the name, it reminded me of an evodia hidden deep in a back section of my yard which I planted 20 years ago. Back then, I was energetic and thought I could maintain a 2 acre yard, but alas 1/2 has reverted to jungle since then. But the evodia is hanging in there amongst the re-emerging jungle thugs. My frustration is that I've never seen it bloom. I often see the fruits late in summer (1st pic is the immature fruit, 2nd mature red). I can only presume since it's fruiting, it must be flowering; and from your observation, there must be a bee free-for-all going on in the spring when I'm never looking. So I'll try to be more diligent & catch the act this spring!
Weerobin,
Mine has never had pinkish berries like that. The bees are around the tree all spring, summer and into fall til it gets too cold, though. Before the snow storm that took several of the big branches down, it used to create an umbrella like canopiy and close to the stairs that lead up from the driveway to the front of the house/front door...so you had to be careful around the bees (didnt want to get stung). It will take the tree a while to make it's comeback, just glad the hubby was able to save it :)
I was reading/googling "make your own mason bee house". Learned some things, including the ones they sell can be too big in some cases to attract the bees (?) Can that be?
Kathy, very interested in what you learn at your workshop! Please share!