Events - Beediverse Mason Bees

FALL EVENTS

Hi Everyone,

Events will be posted as soon as I hear about them. Dr. Margriet will be leading the demos, talk and discussions at these events. Bring your questions and one of your unopened bee homes.

18th October, Thurs. 6.30pm. Wild Birds Unlimited, North Vancouver. 20 registered attendees. It was a blast. DR. Margriet showed her talk on “How to save our wild bees” and then she proceeded with the harvesting and cleaning of cocoons. Limited seating. Pictures swill be posted soon.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Coming Soon

27th October 10am at Amsterdam Nursery,19100 Dewdney Trunk Rd Maple Ridge.

Amsterdam is hosting and presenting the talk. Misty from Beediverse will be there to help with harvesting and cleaning the cocoons.

In their flyer it says “If you already keep Mason Bees this workshop offers a great opportunity for you to bring your own Mason bee nests and we will show you how to open your nests, clean the cocoons and get them ready for Spring. All products necessary to start your Mason bee nests will be for sale on this day. Please register by phoning 604-465-6614 $5.25 Registration fee will be deducted from your purchase on this day.”

—————————————————————————————

Let us know about local seminars so we can let others know about these events. Ask your local stores to have a mason bee workshop. Try:

Garden Stores
Wild Bird Stores
Back Yard Wild Bird Stores

Explaining the lifecycle of the mason bee using the Beediverse viewing home.
Set up a bee home facing East, in the sun and under an overhang. Bleach and bowls for harvesting are ready to go in the foreground.
A closer look at the Beediverse viewing home
Viewing homes are a great learning tool
Opening up a bee home with nesting trays.
A look at all the nesting trays with cocoons and various debris and pests.
There is lots to see
Mason Bee cocoons lined up in their nesting tunnels.
Top- leafcutter bee cocoons. mid- unknown with wax plugs. Lower- summer bee with masticated leaf material.
Wooden trays out of a kit.
Large cocoons are the females. The smaller ones are the males.
This is a tiny summer bee that uses masticated leafmaterial as a plug.
Removing cocoons with a harvesting scoop into cold water.
After harvesting cocoons, they are soaked for about 30 minutes, then scoured in a metal sieve under runner water and a final rinse in bleach water. Then dried onto a paper towel and stored until spring. Happy harvesting.

Picture of a candling dish to hold cocoons after washing

Cart