I am really glad the Mason Bees are making use of the bee boards I constructed for them last year. I left the old bee homes out so the Bees inside could emerge. The homes with holes in the mud are spots where previous Bees have already left for the spring to start a new life.
Adult female Mason Bees were still visiting these old homes made from 2x4s. These homes only have holes about four inches long, which is not enough for a good male/female ratio. Shorter homes cause the female to lay more male larva. But when homes are longer than six inches the female Mason Bees will lay more female larva. The later is what I want, as the females do all the work collecting pollen, nectar and making homes. The males are just around for a week or two for breeding.
I was watching the Bees visit the homes and they will make their way into the 2x4 homes, but quickly leave them. Seems like they were just checking them, but then went to use the bigger better homes I made for them.
Im planning on getting rid of the 2x4 homes and stick with the bee boards. The old homes were a nice easy way to start getting to know the Bees. But now I know I can build better homes ill move onto doing that.
By keeping these 2x4 homes I cannot clean them out, and it will encourage pests and parasites to move in, which will affect the performance of the Bees collecting pollen and such. By using bee boards I make, I can clean them out as often as I need to keep the mites down. So far the mites have not been much of a problem, but its something I need to be aware of if I want to expand my population of solitary Bees.
Cleaning up the cocoons by hand and storing them in a refrigerator seems to be a great way of controlling pests, not sure if im going to do that this year, since not all the homes were filled yet.
