64 Articles 1 Followers
24 Jan 2020 2 minute read 2 comments Solominer
My friend got himself a new tool recently, a 3D printer. He was wondering if I was in need of anything made by one. So I went searching on 3D object websites and came across some designs when I searched for "Mason Bee". Someone designed boxes to pla...
16 Jan 2020 1 minute read 0 comments Solominer
While opening the Bamboo Bee homes I came across a tiny predator. Well it cannot hurt me as far as I know, but they are destructive to Mason Bee cocoons. These tiny Wasps climb into the homes and take over cocoons which then kill the Mason Bee inside...
14 Jan 2020 3 minute read 2 comments Solominer
These Bees make homes using mud, probably where their got their name. The females will lay larva in each mud cell and leave a bunch of pollen inside for the larva to eat. Eventually the larva spins a cocoon and that is what we see now in these photos...
10 Jan 2020 1 minute read 0 comments Solominer
In the early Spring female solitary Bees were busy building homes for their offspring. I took some Bamboo I had sitting around and cut them into big and small pieces. The Mason Bees laid their larvae and left pollen pellets inside and sealed up the...
5 Dec 2019 1 minute read 0 comments Solominer
The Solitary Bees should like the homes im building for them. Though in my last batch of boards I made I had an issue with the center hole. It was offset and made an imperfect circle. From what ive read and watched, the Mason and Leafcutter bees...
23 Sep 2019 2 minute read 11 comments uthus2000
There is a guy for whom I do occasional side work. Our company had done work in his house a little more than a year ago. He'd asked one of our journeymen to do some work for him but the journeyman handed it over to me. The guy for whom I do work - I'...
10 Sep 2019 5 minute read 0 comments uthus2000
Do not wait until you're ready to set up hives to order your bees. Packages and nucs go quickly. Order them in December or January for delivery in March or April. I don't recall how many hives I've had over the years. 10 maybe. Of those, I'd purcha...
9 Sep 2019 4 minute read 2 comments uthus2000
When is the best time to get things together to raise bees next year? If you're a beginner, there's no time like the present.You cannot just throw everything together and hope that it works. Am I allowed bees where I live? If in town, the very firs...
19 Aug 2019 2 minute read 0 comments uthus2000
Honey bee problems worldwide may or may not be at least partially due to neonicotinoid-based pesticides. The debate is ongoing. I will not address either side of that in this article. I don't have any bees this year. I'd been keeping bees for probabl...
22 Jul 2019 1 minute read 0 comments Solominer
In part two I continue to build carve out channels in wood from solitary bees to make homes inside. These are the larger homes, using a big round round nose router bit. It makes alot of smoke and I have to let it cool down more than the smaller bit....
