Bee house

Bee house
Originally uploaded by kristi_t

I bought a mason bee house & bees this year. That's it on the fence.

So far, 1 female of the 9 bees that emerged has stayed and filled two nest tubes with eggs & pollen for next year's offspring.

In another month or so, she'll die, leaving the eggs with their pollen supplies to develop in to larvae, which will then pupate & spin cocoons to hibernate in over the winter. At that point, I'll take them inside, clean them of pollen mites, and store them in the fridge (!) safe from predators over the winter. Next spring, they'll get put in the house again to hatch out & pollinate another crop of apples and plums!

The City of Vancouver and the Environmental Youth Alliance have put bee houses up in all the City's parks to make more habitat for these non-aggressive and beneficial pollinators.