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Paper wasp nest in a tree
A closeup look at a very large paper wasp nest.
This wasp nest likely belongs to a very large colony of bald faced hornets. They are good predators for a garden. Caution though, if these critters are disturbed, they can leave a nasty sting. Photo by Giovanni J.
This headlines is somewhat misleading to me.
Poor weather can easily be blamed for a failed apple crop, but ultimately it is the lack of pollinators that result in a failed crop. It can be argued that it is really the weather that is the cause of a failed crop because even with many pollinators present, rain will deter these bees from coming out of their nests and pollinating. Yes this is correct, but in times of poor weather there are always a few short periods of sunny weather- and yes these may be very short! But even if these sunny breaks are very short, IF you have bees close by, it is amazing what bees can do in 10 mins- or 20 or 40 mins. This is why there is all the more reason to have pollinators close by fruit trees that you want to get pollinated.-Margriet
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/sep/16/apple-growers-worst-yield-15-years
Thank you to Harry Burton for emailing this link
Beediverse photo file
It is time to clean out nests and harvest your cocoons:)
Floating mass of newly harvested mason bee cocoons in water.
I have mason bees at a number of sites, and decided that today was a good day to harvest cocoons from one of these sites.
The first step in cleaning cocoons is harvesting them out of nesting tunnels. The easiest way to do this is with a scoop. Once harvested, cocoons and other debris are added to a bucket of tap water. The reason for placing cocoons into water is to dislodge and loosen mud plugs from cocoons, remove some of the mites and separate other debris from healthy cocoons. The overall objective is to clean cocoons of any debris (mud and feces) and pests (mites) and to clean cocoons well enough so these can be candled. Candling allows you to remove any parasitic wasps.
I scooped out cocoons , placed them in water -and saw a photo op! A lot can be learned from examining cocoons and other debris.
Yelow bee feces on surface of cocoon
Numerous mites on surface of cocoon
Dead bee pupae amongst cocoons
The upper picture is a surface view of cocoons floating on water. Mason bee feces (yellow), mites, cocoons and bee pupae can all be seen in this picture. I cropped small areas of the same picture to make it easier to point to these features.
An additional photo was taken of a pollen lump after it was removed from the water. Pollen lumps are pollen collected to feed individual bee offspring. If this tiny bee larvae dies, it leaves the remains of the pollen lump. In cold damp springs, more pollen lumps can be seen because during cold weather, young bee larvae are more likely to die
Pollen lump (below tip of scoop) amongst cocoons
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Hi Margriet,
My mother up in the Okanagan took this video of a bee hatching. Thought it might be useful for your site/blog.
Patty K.
Nice clip. Thanks for sharing. Margriet
click here to view the Hatching Mason Bee video
Hi Margriet,
I’m wondering if you would be able to identify these ‘bees’ in my dad’s
garden for me. I don’t believe they are mason bees as they’re too
‘stripey’ but I’m not sure if they’re good or bad.
I hope the summer is treating you well!
Thanks, Shirley, Cultivate Garden & Gift Ltd. Parksville, BC, V9P 1T5
Hi Shirley,
I believe these are leafcutter bees. Did you see them carry leaves into the
nest?
If not, they are another species of solitary bee.
The legs seem broader and very hairy and that makes me think it might not be
a leafcutter bee. Does anyone know what this bee is? Margriet
Thanks, Margriet! I didn’t see any leaf carriers with this nest. I did
spot a leaf cutter in my own garden yesterday, chomping away on a golden
privet and they’ve made a mess of my newly planted hydrangea! I was happy
to finally spot one as they’ve been elusive when I’m around. At least, I
thought they had been until I saw one and realized they were plentiful this
summer as I had noticed the whiter looking bees quite a bit and wondered
what they were.
I also found a couple of pieces of what I think was a nest lying on the
ground in another area. I didn’t know what it was at first so started
pulling it apart and realized it was the little round bits of leaves all
rolled together like a cigarette! I don’t know if it got knocked out of
somewhere because it was just lying there in the middle of nowhere on top of
the soil like it had blown in. (This nest may have been pulled out of the nest by birds.)
Another good teaching opportunity for my kids…although they didn’t seem
quite as excited as I was.
Shirley
