From guyclark@socket.net Wed Mar 31 13:52:43 1999 Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 23:07:16 -0600 From: Guy Clark Reply-To: permaculture To: permaculture Subject: [permaculture] Re: OT: Does anyone know of a source of orchard mason bees? [ The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Kelley- The Orchard Mason Bee is a bee that is tons more efficient in pollinating than the honey bee. Their scientific name is Osmia Lingaria Propinqua Cresson and it is native to the U.S. and Canada West of the Rockies; East of the Rockies its cousin, Osmia Lingaria Lingaria Say is widespread. There is a wonderfully informative and fun book called The Orchard Mason Bee: The Life History, Biology, Propagation and Use of a Truly Benevolent and Beneficial Insect by Brian L. Griffin. They are amazing pollinators, "Greg Dickman, in his brochure, Orchard Bees", states that the Orchard Mason visits more blossoms each day than the honey bee, and pollinates a much higher percentage of those blooms visited. He states that the honey bee visits an average seven hundred blooms daily. It pollinates only thirty of them, a mere five percent success rate. He further claims that our Orchard Mason pollinates 1600 flowers per day, a pollination success rate of ninety-five to ninety-nine percent." A fully scientific study has not been done, but there is little doubt that the Orchard Mason be is an extremely efficient pollinator. And they begin much earlier in the spring. Namaste', Guy Clark --- You are currently subscribed to permaculture as: london@metalab.unc.edu To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-permaculture-75156P@franklin.oit.unc.edu From gardenbetty@earthlink.net Wed Mar 31 23:09:56 1999 Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 17:52:24 -0500 From: gardenbetty@earthlink.net Reply-To: permaculture To: permaculture Subject: [permaculture] Re: OT: Does anyone know of a source of orchard mason bees? [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Howdy, The orchard mason bee or hornfaced bee (same family--osmia) are easy to steward. They are solitary bees that nest in predrilled holes. They usually take abandoned beetle tunnels in trees, but will take quite well to any 5/16" ish hole. For best female production--the pollinating sex--you should /cleanly/ drill a non pressure treated block full of 5/16" holes 6" deep. If you can sand smooth the bottom of the hole, even better. Hang the block in the orchard and either stock it with bees or wait for them to come. The bees have a range of about 10o yards. They emerge as the fruit trees come into bloom, pollinate like crazy, taking the pollen back to their holes for storage. As the fruit flower period ends, the female lays eggs in the stored pollen in the holes, then "masons" the hole shut with mud. For this reason, they like to have a water source nearby within their range. Once the nest is sealed they die. Over and done in no time. Great for fruit, no so great for veggies. Warm weather honeybees and cool weather osmia bees are perfect compliments. Because of this habit, they are not affected by varroa mite or other honeybee plagues. However, their nests can become fodder for parasitic wasps and certain fungi. To solve this, there are different commercial products available to osmia bee stewards: paper straws replaced yearly to line the nesting holes provide a clean, dry fungus-free environment; and guard tubes to block entry by parasitic wasps. These products are available very cheaply and once you see how they are made, you can improvise your own if you want to take the time and effort. Some people put ultra fine mesh screening over the blocks to prevent wasps. Some just take their blocks down once the nest is sealed and store them in the fridge till the next year. However osmia bees are very prolific reproducers: by year 5 you could easily have to buy a fridge just to house your bees! You could also try drilling other size holes and see what kind of creatures show up. At different widths, you can encouraged leaf-cutter bees (warm weather solitary bees), beneficial parasitic wasps, and various mystery beelike insects I've yet to identify but seem to cause no harm. I strongly recommend this website by the US authority on these bees. http://www.accessone.com/~knoxclr/omb.htm good luck! dawn aka gardenbetty We will be known by the tracks we leave behind... ^×Dakota proverb FranksFarm@aol.com wrote: > > Hi Guy, > > Thanks for the very interesting post on Orchard Bees. > > I'd like to include bees in my plans ...but am a rank amateur . > > Perhaps somewhere down the road. Can you tell me what you need toraise these > kind of bees...are they resistant to varroa mite that has ravaged so many > hives? > > Happy Easter to all. Namaste:) Frank > > --- > You are currently subscribed to permaculture as: gardenbetty@earthlink.net > To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-permaculture-75878E@franklin.oit.unc.edu -- --- You are currently subscribed to permaculture as: london@metalab.unc.edu To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-permaculture-75156P@franklin.oit.unc.edu From gardenbetty@earthlink.net Thu Apr 1 13:32:20 1999 Date: Thu, 01 Apr 1999 13:10:11 -0500 From: gardenbetty@earthlink.net Reply-To: permaculture To: permaculture Subject: [permaculture] Re: OT: Does anyone know of a source of orchard mason bees? [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Hi Frank, mason bees are extremely gentle; you can even hold them in your hand. When they do sting it is less severe than, say, a honeybee or yellow jacket (yikes!) They often nest in holes or crevices they find on your house, so I wouldn't worry about proximity. You could even mount their homes on the east or south side of your house itself. They need protection from wind and water and like a sunny spot that won't get hotter than 90 degrees F. Just make sure they are very close to your trees. One note: mason bees don't live in hives. They are solitary bees and their homes (blocks) are more like condo associations than hives!:) Happy Equinox and Passover! dawn aka gardenbetty We will be known by the tracks we leave behind... ^×Dakota proverb FranksFarm@aol.com wrote: > > Hi, > > Dawn...thanks for the great post and the URL on the mason bees. Glad to hear > they are not as susceptible to varroa. > > I'm planning on putting a small orchard fairly within 200 ft of the house do > you think they'd be a problem in that location. I could possibly locate the > hives further away. > > <> > > Happy Easter! Frank > --- You are currently subscribed to permaculture as: london@metalab.unc.edu To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-permaculture-75156P@franklin.oit.unc.edu From amaranth@uninets.net Fri Apr 2 20:00:29 1999 Date: Fri, 02 Apr 1999 19:15:03 -0500 From: Kelley Reply-To: permaculture To: permaculture Subject: [permaculture] Re: Where are those bees, again? Here are two sources for the orchard mason bee my hubby found from his beekeeper's course info: Knox Cellars 1607 Knox Ave. Bellingham, WA 98335 (360)733-3283 Entomo-logic 9807 NE 140th St Bothell, WA 98100 FX (206)820-8037 For list of suppliers... http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/ipm/insects/pollinat/supply.htm Kelley PS Am I supposed to post an intro of sorts? Or do you want to get to know me as we go along? :-) --- You are currently subscribed to permaculture as: london@metalab.unc.edu To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-permaculture-75156P@franklin.oit.unc.edu From ktopek@bellsouth.net Fri Apr 2 20:02:19 1999 Date: Fri, 02 Apr 1999 19:30:28 -0500 From: Kevin Topek Reply-To: permaculture To: permaculture Subject: [permaculture] Re: OT: Does anyone know of a source of orchard mason bees? [ Part 1, Text/PLAIN 15 lines. ] [ Unable to print this part. ]     Bees produce honey. European varieties of the honeybee, Apis mellifera produce excess amounts of honey with regard to their future need. They are also usually not as agressive as most other bee species.     Orchard mason bees probably build small wax cells and store their honey comparmentalized, like Grecian urns. It would be hard to harvest and there would not be an excessive amount.     Pollination can not be underestimated in its effect on fruit production for a whole host of plants. I recall how the carpenter bees living in the old wood garage behind my house would pollinate my huge luffa framework. I gave away luffa sponges for almost a decade. Happy Trails, to you... Kevin Topek From gardenbetty@earthlink.net Sat Apr 3 00:26:22 1999 Date: Fri, 02 Apr 1999 23:05:56 -0500 From: gardenbetty@earthlink.net Reply-To: permaculture To: permaculture Subject: [permaculture] Re: OT: Does anyone know of a source of orchard mason bees? [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Osmia family bees, as opposed to Apis family bees, do not produce honey. They are solitary bees that do not hive or form social groups or tend their young. They emerge from their holes in early spring, the females mate, line those holes with pollen, lay eggs in the pollen, "mason" up the hole with mud, then die. The males do not pollinate very well, and die after they mate. Osmia family bees are excellent orchard pollinators because they emerge at the same time as the fruit trees come into bloom. They are also excellent pollinators because it is their biological imperative to collect as much pollen as they can to feed the next generation. dawn Kevin Topek wrote: > > Bees produce honey. European varieties of the honeybee, Apis > mellifera produce excess amounts of honey with regard to their future > need. They are also usually not as agressive as most other bee > species. > > Orchard mason bees probably build small wax cells and store their > honey comparmentalized, like Grecian urns. It would be hard to harvest > and there would not be an excessive amount. > > Pollination can not be underestimated in its effect on fruit > production for a whole host of plants. I recall how the carpenter bees > living in the old wood garage behind my house would pollinate my huge > luffa framework. I gave away luffa sponges for almost a decade. > > Happy Trails, to you... > Kevin Topek -- dawn aka gardenbetty We will be known by the tracks we leave behind... ^×Dakota proverb --- You are currently subscribed to permaculture as: london@metalab.unc.edu To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-permaculture-75156P@franklin.oit.unc.edu From guyclark@socket.net Sat Apr 10 00:53:05 1999 Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 15:09:03 -0500 From: Guy Clark Reply-To: permaculture To: permaculture Subject: [permaculture] Re: Does anyone know of a source of orchard mason bees? [ The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Frank- The first thing you need to raise the Orchard Mason Bee is the book, "The Orchard Mason Bee: The Life History, Biology, Propagation, and Use of a Truly Benevolent and Beneficial Insect" by Brian L. Griffin. It should answer all of your questions. They do not produce honey and will not pollinate many vegetables because they work in the spring before most vegetables are up and about. They are pretty much non-aggressive and their sting apparently is pretty painless. I am sure that these questions have been answered already, but I am cleaning up my email this afternoon. Namaste', Guy Clark --- You are currently subscribed to permaculture as: london@metalab.unc.edu To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-permaculture-75156P@franklin.oit.unc.edu