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.
If you are interested in growing fruit, this is the society for you. Four times a year, they put out a magazine called Pome News. It is full of great stories, How to, recipes and much more. I just received my winter 2013 issue. Homemade apple sauce is one I need to try out. Spices added are ginger, anise, cloves and cardamon. Mmm sounds delicious. Other interesting writeups include a description of a trip to some old orchards and identifying the apple varieties. Fascinating. Another interesting How-to article on grafting onto old trees.
Membership is $20. Their address is Home Orchard Society, PO Box 230192, Tigard, OR 97281-0192
Email address to membership chair is membership@homeorchardsociety.org
Early cherry blossoms in March.
Cherry blossom in March
Chris
Great pictures. I am not too sure who the culprit is here. Several mason beekeepers have sent me pictures with cotton in and around nesting tunnels. We are still searching for the culprit!
Hi there,
These may be the beneficial wasps. The crop of bees this year is terrible as the weather this last spring was awful.
Cheers
Kevin in Tofino
Yes, the large yellow grubs look like beneficial wasps. Clean out the rest of the channels, and close up the nesting tray. Set out with cleaned trays ready for next spring. Margriet
We are excited that Beediverse will be at the next Seattle Flower and Garden show on Feb 20-24 2013. Come and visit our booth and bring your questions. We will have lots of knowledgeable people at the booth to answer your questions.
We are at Booth 2319. We are sharing a double double booth with West coast Seeds. a combination of mason bee products and seeds will be available for your garden.
Mason bee cocoons will also be available at the show.
 2012 booth |
I have been busy harvesting all my cocoons, cleaning cocoons and nests, doing mason bee workshops and getting ready for the busy December and spring seasons.
November is the beginning of the real winter season, and unless you have already dealt with your mason bees, this is a good time to open your mason bee nesting tunnels, harvest mason bee cocoons and clean the nest.
Of course there are a lot of details that are missing from this list, but the above list is an overview.
Winter is hibernation time
Over the life of this blog I have included many posts on various topics. Look up the following posts in the SEARCH window (at the top of this blog). The blog search engine will search for all articles that have that specific word in the title of the text. Try:
inside the nest
cleaning nests
cleaning cocoons
washing
candeling
Wasps inside cigar-like cocoons.
Hi,
I put boxes out for summer bees this year but got none. I did however get loads of Mason Wasps. I retrieved the cocoons from the boxes and found that the cocoons look like little cigars with a dark brown color. They are brittle compared to Mason Bee cocoons and contain Larva. Do they overwinter as larva and develop next summer? Can they be stored as Mason Bees? Thanks Norm Z.
Hi- I have seen these before, but never knew that these were wasps. If in the fall it is still a soft-bodied undeveloped wasp, I would expect them to develop in early summer months as temperatures warm up. This is where the petri-dish comes in handy. Place cocoons in a petri-dish adjacent to a wet paper towel. Keep it on the countertop and see what emerges. Thanks Margriet
