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8 Posts
Hi everyone!
I am new to mason bee keeping. I ordered 10 cocoons from BeeDiverse which are currently chilling in the crisper of my fridge (with a moist paper towel I change out every other day).
I hung my "Plain Jane" bee house from masonbeehomes.com today in the hopes of seeing some wild mason/leafcutter bees move in. In previous years they have made homes inside the siding of my house, so I am hoping they are still around (though I did not see any last year). The house is situated next to a gutter pipe which will shield it from wind, on a south-facing wall which gets sun for most of the day if the sun graces us with an appearance at all. The worst of the rainy season is behind us but precipitation is an inevitability until July in my area.
I'm waiting for the right time to put my purchased bees outside. I live in the northernmost part of California. There is still the possibility of a frost so I'm reluctant to put them out now, but there are cherry blossoms starting to bloom in the area (though none yet on our street). I know there are no set-in-stone rules about timing mason bee emergence but I am feeling a bit anxious about getting it exactly right.
The owner of BeeDiverse said I could go ahead and put the bees outside now and let them decide when to emerge, but I worry about them sitting outside too long in their cocoons, even within their tubes they are not 100% safe from wasps, rodents and cold.
Any advice for a newbie is appreciated. How long might it take from putting them outside to seeing them emerge?
How late in the season can I order more cocoons in case these don't survive?
I am new to mason bee keeping. I ordered 10 cocoons from BeeDiverse which are currently chilling in the crisper of my fridge (with a moist paper towel I change out every other day).
I hung my "Plain Jane" bee house from masonbeehomes.com today in the hopes of seeing some wild mason/leafcutter bees move in. In previous years they have made homes inside the siding of my house, so I am hoping they are still around (though I did not see any last year). The house is situated next to a gutter pipe which will shield it from wind, on a south-facing wall which gets sun for most of the day if the sun graces us with an appearance at all. The worst of the rainy season is behind us but precipitation is an inevitability until July in my area.
I'm waiting for the right time to put my purchased bees outside. I live in the northernmost part of California. There is still the possibility of a frost so I'm reluctant to put them out now, but there are cherry blossoms starting to bloom in the area (though none yet on our street). I know there are no set-in-stone rules about timing mason bee emergence but I am feeling a bit anxious about getting it exactly right.
The owner of BeeDiverse said I could go ahead and put the bees outside now and let them decide when to emerge, but I worry about them sitting outside too long in their cocoons, even within their tubes they are not 100% safe from wasps, rodents and cold.
Any advice for a newbie is appreciated. How long might it take from putting them outside to seeing them emerge?
How late in the season can I order more cocoons in case these don't survive?