A 4-sided field shelter on a metal pole.

Margriet,

I phoned you a few weeks ago to ask about where to place our new bee house.  You suggested a location that faces east and gets morning sun, and then added that putting a shelter around the house to keep off rain and wind would be a good idea.  Finally, you asked that if I built such a shelter, I should send you some photos.

The photos are attached.  The shelter faces east in a place where it should get morning sun, and it’s stained a dark brown to absorb heat.  It’s about 60 meters away from the apple tree we are hoping the bees will pollinate.  I hope that’s not too far.  The bees may find flowers and other plants closer by and never make it to the apple tree.  But we’ll keep our fingers crossed.

Don N.   Germantown Hills, IL
Hi Don,

Thank you for sharing your photos and story.  I think the shelter will work very nicely.  No, I dont think 60 yards is too far away from the orchard.  But, if you do find that pollination did not improve, set up your shelter closer to your orchard.  Margriet
This is where the shlelter is located.  East facing,

with trees as added wind protection.

 

Don’s shelter holds one Royal mason bee home with
Quicklock corn nesting trays.  Above the Royal, there
are two sturdy Emergence Shelters

with cocoons- waiting for warmer weather.

 

This is the same shelter as above, showing more of the structure.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *