These photos are bringing back some great memories of my time on the ‘farm’ with mason bees.
We tested various types of nests, and to duplicate these, I bought 50 small office garbage cans.
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| A set up used in a mason bee trial in blueberry field. |
I set each one on top of a fence posts.
Unfortunately, bears could not resist going after the small amount of pollen inside the nesting tunnels. Several of the containers were smashed to pieces.
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| Mason bee trial in a blueberry field. Bears smashed quite a few of the containers with mason bee nests. In the distance two other containers are visible sitting on top of a post. |
After this, I realized that bears were one of the challenges for keeping mason bees in these fields. I knew that bears go after honey bee hives, and yes, beekeepers kept their hives surrounded by electric fences. But I did not think that bears would go after mason bee nests. I guess early spring bears are hungry and anything goes.
In photos of previous posts, you can see the electric fence surrounding the nests. It is easier to have many nests surrounded by one electric fence, than having numerous locations each with an electric fence.
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| Large mason bee nesting area surrounded by an electric fence. |