I have been a biologist since I was a kid. Then I became a "bee biologist". From bees in my garden to studying them at Simon Fraser University, I still find bees fascinating. Pollination with bees also became a focus when I studied pollination of blueberries. My journey with bees continued into the business world. In 1999 I started my company Beediverse Products and developed a line of products to keep mason bees. I first developed a successful method for harvesting mason bee cocoons and then I developed a line of products including: book,DVD, poster,mason bee homes and tools.
Now, my main interest and enthusiasm is focused on figuring out how to best manage mason bees and produce them by the billions. For this reason we are continually testing new ideas, widgets and gadgets for making the job of keeping mason bees easier and more successful.
Hi,
I just unwrapped a straw from this summer and in it I found 4 compartments separated with Sticky reddish Brown resin. In each compartment attached to the resin plug was a glob of soft yellowish material with a white larva which seemed to be attached to the glob on both ends. 
These were in a straw suited for summer bees. The larva varied in size from about 1/8th to ¼ inch long.
Would you have any idea what these might be? This is a photo of the resin and the larva. Thanks Norman Z.
Thank you for the pictures Norm. I do not know what this is. It looks like the resin is anchored in the resin. If you can, keep it in a petri dish with some moisture and see what emerges. Margriet
Subject: Ground beesDear MargrietWe have a bee problem in our garden in Aston Tirrold in the UKI found your details on the web. See this video. Any idea how we can manage this?Please do feel free to use the video! Justin K.
Hello Justin,Thank you for your inquiry- from the UK!Whow- I have never seen something like this. What a wonderful sight. If you are a bee person like myself, I would be delighted to have these in my garden because bees are a pretty precious commodity.I would make a special patch for the bees, by surrounding this area with a border of rocks and plants. They obviously like the soil and the drainage of your garden.I assume you don’t want to destroy them, but control them in some way. Nature is pretty good at controlling populations. I would expect that growth of this bee has occurred over the past few years and that a drop in the population is inevitable in the next few years.If you do decide to arrange a border around this population, and it begins to extend beyond the border, you could water down the area to slow them down a bit. But of course this would depend on the depth of their nests.I think it is a great clip. Hope this helps and keep us posted on what you decide to do.- Margriet
reply from JustinThank you!Will let you know how it goes
Art Knapps in Courtenay, BC, is having a Free workshop on Sat Nov 10th, 10 -noon.
Learn what is inside a mason bee nest and how to harvest cocoons.
Give them a call and register 1 250 334 3024
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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
