Bombus melanopygus bumble bees using Mason Bees nesting tunnels

From MB

I've been keeping mason bees for four years now and earlier this month I came across something I have never seen/read/heard about before.

One afternoon I noticed a big bumblebee — a big bugger, about twice the size of a mason bee with a tiger-striped orange abdomen — hanging around my mason bee houses and fussing about at the end of one of the tubes. I later observed the same bumbler entering already occupied tubes on more than one occasion. I figured the bumbler was simply stealing the pollen already gathered by the mason bees — you know: working smarter, not harder.

Then one evening I was checking the mason bee house with a flashlight and noticed that in four of the tubes, there was a thick, viscous liquid inside. The taste test doesn't lie — it was honey.

I emailed Margriet and asked some of the questions running through my mind: Is this common? Do bumblebees hijack mason bee tubes for themselves?

I already have 20 tubes filled up so I have more than enough mason bees for next year. I'm no interest in killing the bumbler but its behaviour was fascinating.

Since then I did some research and, combined with my observations, I have concluded the bumbler in question is an orange rump bumblebee queen (Bombus melanopygus) who has apparently made an odd choice for a nesting site (image: Queen). She had taken possession of a row of four mason bee tubes, each of which contains globs of honey. If you look inside the tubes in image: honey, the little gleams of light are actually the blobs of honey. (I have a better shot of the honey but I can’t get my email to work on my iphone right now).

She goes in and out of the tubes but has to back out of them because she is too big to turn around inside like a mason bee can.

One evening when I returned home from work I was lucky enough to watch as the queen used her wings to fan the entrance to one of the tubes (image: bumbler1A). I’ve read about honeybees doing this at the entrance to a hive so it was interesting to see. When she was finished, I was able to get the second shot (image: bumbler 2).

There are also now a couple of worker orange rumped bumblebees on site and one of them has taken possession of another tube. They are much smaller — but still bigger than a mason bee — with just a dab of orange on the end of their butts.

I have two mason bee houses located side by side but the bumblers show no interest at all in the other house. The bumblers are now very active as you can see by the heavily stained appearance around the end of their tubes (image: tubes). I believe this is caused by dirt and pollen tracked through the honey by the busy bumblebees. They are still producing honey.

From all appearances, the bumblebees have set up shop in the empty mason bee tubes for the remainder of the summer. I have 10 empty ones left so there still room for expansion.

Thanks Michael B.  for some great photos and some neat observations.-Margriet

Bumbler IA

Bumbler 2



Queen



Honey on base of tubes

Osmia californica bees and nests

Michael emailed me with a question on setting out new nests when the old nests are getting filled.  He asked if adding a nest close to the others would disorientate the bees already nesting at the location.  

I suggested that additional nests are best set out in the visual range and clustered close to the original nests. 

Michael also noted that his bees headed for the tubes first.  Yes mason bees prefer round holes, especially when the substrate is wood or carboard.  Unfortunately the bees' choice is not always the best for eaze of management. 

Michael's original question was:

If I need to set out more nesting sites for the Mason bees should I put them next to existing sites, or, put them a bit away from the one's I originally set out?  The reason I ask is that I am getting many more bees to nest so far this spring compared to last year but I do not want to mess up the bees visual cues to the old sites.  I also know they like to be near each other.  Your thoughts?

Michael's follow up notes are:

As I mentioned before I was particularly surprised by what happened this spring when most of the O. lignaria emerged at once with a very low dispersal rate.  This activity was in contrast to the last two springs where the dispersal rate was high and emergence rates were very sporadic.

In my nesting set-ups, which I have two of them around my house (see the BEFORE photo), I put 40 cocoons in the wooden house, and 20 cocoons in each of the tube units (80 total of O. lignaria).  There was also 20 of your O. californica cocoons in the wooden nursery house.

I set out all of my bees on April 20 and to my astonishment, almost all of O. lignaria had emerged by April 22, and the first mud nests were made in the tubes on April 24.

The second surprise was that all of the bees decided to move to the tube units (reeds and paper filled tubes).  This is where I was beginning to get concerned that I would not have enough nesting sites.  We had a week of very good weather, and then we had four-five days of cool and damp weather which I then decided to put another tube unit below the existing two tube units (see AFTER photo).

During this cool period of weather, I noticed that all the O. lignaria bees were resting in the tubes, so I kept track of what bees were in what tubes and how far they had gotten along in building their mud nests.  The good news is that when the good weather returned last weekend that all of the existing bees resumed their normal activity and were not deterred by the NEW unit below!  It seems that putting a new nesting house nearby did not distort their visual cues (at least under my conditions).

Also, in taking the pictures of my nesting sites last weekend I noticed the O. californica I purchased from you were beginning to emerge.

I just managed to snap a photo of a O. californica male and female bee doing what a pair of bees are supposed to do .

It might also be my imagination but it appears that the O. californica seem a bit larger than the O. lignaria, and so far all the O. californica bees are headed for the tubes.

Maybe it is some kind of social communication or interaction, but who knows what the bees are really thinking!

Best wishes,

Michael-

Mating Osmia californica

Before

After

Bright orange pollen in Observation nest-update

UPDATE BELOW

An interesting observation from Diane.

"This morning I peaked into small observation nest purchased some years ago
 and noted a bright red color on top surface of one edge of two
cells...do you know what this might be?

Diane
Ohh how lovely.  The bee has collected pollen from two sources, one flower
with yellow pollen and the other flower with orange pollen.

By touching the anthers of flowers you can see there is quite a lot of
pollen colors out there.  One flower that has bright orange pollen is theTiger lily.

 Margriet



This is a picture of a 3 nesting tunnel observation/viewing nest.  The lowest tunnel is empty.  The middle tunnel contains 3 completed chambers with pale yellow pollen.  Two cells ( of the four) in the upper channel have bright orange and yellow pollen as part of the pollen lump.  There is even a bee in the upper nesting tunnel.

 Thanks so much...another bit of learning...this is fun!   Diane

Here is a picture of the same nest taken about a month later. 
Cocoons are fully formed  with adult bees inside.

Osmia californica

Osmia californica comes out late in spring, often their emergence overlaps the latter end of the Osmia lignaria (early spring mason bee) season.

However very little is known about them.  If you'd like to share your photos of Osmia californica, please email them to me and I will get them on this blog.

Its late June 2012

It is the 3rd week of June and Osmia lignaria the early spring mason bees, and of course Osmia californica have stopped flying.  They have left their offspring behind, and hopefully few parasites and predators will get to the developing larvae by next spring.

I have received a lot of interesting emails with photos that I want to share with you.

People are sending more detailed notes of their observations - all very interesting.

I have had relatively good news from the majority of mason bee producers.  It seems there was enough reasonable good weather for good production along the west coast of NA.  Of course, raccoons, flickers and ants have taken their toll.  But overall, production will be adequate for replenishing their nests next year.

People are trying out different types of nests, bee attractants and different ways of setting out bees and protecting them from the weather.

I find this bee attractant very interesting although I have not heard whether it has been properly tested by scientists (as yet).

Here in BC rain and cool weather has been a large part of June.  I am curious whether, there has been enough warmth for bee larvae to feed and develop into adult bees.  In the fall when I open nests and examine the contents, I will be looking for the proportion of pollen lumps.  If the percent pollen lumps is greater than  5%, it usually indicates  cold  and damp weather.  Bee larvae have died of starvation because they were too cold to feed.

Langley orchard in peak bloom

Every year, I enjoy the awakening of these beautiful apple and cherry flowers.  To see 5 acres of these blossoms is an awesome sight.  These pictures barely do the sight justice.

Cherry flowers in full bloom

Vista of apple blossoms



From pinks to full bloom



Orchard with mason bee yurt in background

Leafcutter bee Kit now available.

We now have available, both the Chalet and Highrise with specifically designed nests for the leafcutter bee.  In addition, the Chalet and one of the Highrises, also has the cardboard wrap for the other small summer mason bees. With or without bees, this refuge and nesting site is a boon for increasing your summer pollinators.  At this time leafcutter bees are availabe in Canada only.

Click here to go to beediverse website

Spiders eat bees

Hello Margriet.
This is my second year with a mason bee nest. When I cracked
open my corn plastic stack to clean my nest last year I was surprised to find two
of the tunnels occupied by spiders.
I had at least 25 cocoons hatch this spring. I went out o check on the house
on Tuesday and noticed webs around the house. On closer inspection, at least
three tunnels had fine webs over the openings.
I assume the spiders prey on the bees. Am I correct? And if so, how do I get
rid of them without disturbing the entire corn plastic bee stack?

Thanks,

Kevin K
That is a good question.  The only way I know is to catch and remove them from the site.  This would be quite difficult I think. 
 I have seen a jumping spider catch a mason bee!  So bees beware!

Vancouver Courier story on mason bees

click here for a great story.

Mason Bee emerging from cocoon- video

Check out this link to a short video of a mason bee emerging from a cocoon. Thank you Kevin and Patty.  The emerging process happens fast. Click on the  link and go the the bottom of the page. http://beediverse.com/gallery/

What is this insect?

 

Margriet,

I'm sending you to pics of this giant that was in our campsite in Terrace BC two years ago.  You can see how big it is in comparison to the loonie.  The other pic shows more detail.

 

Chester

 

I initially though it was a bald faced hornet, but searching through the Internet, the white markings are fewer on the abdominal segments than on this specimen.  It could still be a hornet, but a different species than the bald faced hornet.  Does anyone know what it is?

 

Margriet 

 

Sun is out and bees are feeding

After warm temperatures in early spring, quickly followed by a cold spell lasting a good two weeks,  the sun is finally out again. 
Bees are busy foraging. Here are a few pictures of what I saw on Kale flowers. 

In the past, people have asked me whether male mason bees forage and pollinate.  I presumed they do some feeding on nectar because they would need to be energized over the two  week period that they are around.  Males probably don't do very much pollinating or moving pollen around from one flower to another because when they arrive at a flower- they do it without much movement over the flower.  Today I took picture of a male mason bee drinking nectar out of a flower.  



Male mason bee getting energized by drinking some nectar.
Note long antennae and white hairs on front of face.



Native leafcutter bee feeding on pollen and nectar.  Note stripes on abdomen (Family Megachildae).





Another tiny bee (6 mm/1/4" long) busy feeding on nectar and collecting pollen.



Home apple blossoms-early May

Spring here in Vancouver, BC, Canada was relatively warm in mid April. A lot of lot of flowers budded and bloomed.  Now, after about 2 weeks of chilling temperatures- with patches of sunshine, we are now in a warming trend.  My apple blossoms are finally coming out.  This particular apple tree is right next to the house.  Blossoms are fully open near the house.  Flowers away from the house are still in bud.  I will be checking on temperatures, inside and outside the yurt. 

Apple blossoms -pink stage



Apple blossoms- fully open and waiting for bees.

New Product-Leafcutter Bee Kit-available soon

Leafcutter bee cocoons.  Different colored cocoons are made from  leaves and petals..

.

Leafcutter bee Highrise

 Leafcutter Highrise-availabe soon



Extra space in the attic for storing and emerging cocoons.



Emerging cocoons in cardboard box.

A predator  guard in front of the nest
 protects nests and bees

Nests and bee cocoons behind predator guard.

In the fall-Step one- lift nest block out of Highrise.

In the fall-Step 2- push cocoons out with wooden dowel (supplied) and store in attic under roof of Highrise.

Looking for a particular topic in this blog?

Bumble bee on red clover. 
Photo by Ian Lane with perm.

The search bar on this page is a useful tool for reading different blogs on a particular topic.  Simply type in the topic and Search.  All blogs on this topic will be listed and can be read at your leasure.

Langley orchard Late April

Beautifull apple blossoms

Dwarf apples in full bloom

Cherry blossom- full bloom



Just think of all the cherries!



More nests and mason bee cocoons were placed into the yurt. 
Crabapple in foreground is no longer in bloom like it was in mid April.



Packaging mason bee cocoons

Labelling cardboard boxes.

Labelled boxes ready for cocoons.

After washing cocoons they are air dried for about an hour.  Then, cocoons are candled to remove any parasitized cocoons.  Cocoons are stored in fridges until packaged, and then returned to fridges until sold.  Packages are first labelled.  Cocoons are then selected and carefully pushed into each box.  In a package of 10 there are 4 females and 6 males.

Filling boxes with cocoons. 

Boxed cocoons ready for sale.

Setting out new nests next to the old ones?

A question from Michael in Oregon.

Hi Margriet,

If I need to set out more nesting sites for the Mason bees should I put them next to existing sites, or, put them a bit away from the one’s I originally set out?

The reason I ask is that I am get many more bees to nest so far this spring compared to last year but I do not want to mess up the bees visual cues to the old sites.  I also know they like to be near each other.  Your thoughts?

-thanks

I don't have the exact answer, but I think you are on the right track.  Perhaps in visual range and clustered nearby would be a good solution. -Margriet

 

Langley orchard with yurt in mid April

In mid- April, a few trees were in bloom.  Mostly the crabapples and other pollinizers.  The yurt is in the background.  We set out 1200 cocoons with 650 nesting tunnels- about 1 nesting hole per female in 9 Highrises.



Blooming crabapple with Yurt in background.





I installed ten highrises inside this yurt for a start.
 The emergence shelters containing the cocoons sit on top of each highrise.
 Between 100-200 cocoons are in each emergence shelter.
 In two weeks time I will add more highrises and cocoons.



I use hooks to hang Highrises on the uprights of the Yurt.

Home Yurt- males and females emerging

Here is a picture of my friend Ella looking at male and female mason bees milling around the entrance of their emergence shelter( upper left).  She had never seen them so close.  She watched them emerge from their little box or emergence shelter, several matings and extensive grooming by the males after mating.  Even though it was 14C outside the yurt, temperatures inside the yurt reached 18C.  This is a good temperature for emergence, mating and the females to fly off to find a food source nearby.

The home yurt is filled with nests and mason bee cocoons as the season progresses.  When there is lots of food and bees, the whole yurt is filled.  In this home yurt, few bees and nests have been set out at the onset

 of the season.



Ella watching mason bees emerge and mate.



Close-up of male mason bees outside their emergence shelter.

full view of Home-yurt with Ella inside watching the bees emerge.