Subject: Re: Bees, Mason (Osmia), carpenter, solitary, and Bumble

From: "Theodore V. Fischer" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 14:28:47 -0500

Rick Young wrote:
  I am also
> interested in other solitary bees and Bumble Bees.
> Has anyone had any experience with the above?> 
> What kind of wood is best for the Bee Houses?
> What hole sizes are used for Mason Bees (Osmia Bees)?
> What hole sizes are used for Carpenter Bees?
> Do you need to provide mud or water (or anything else) for them?
> Are Mason Bees (Osmia Bees) commonly found in northern California?
> Any other advice or pollination suggestions?
> Please E-mail me at: [email-masked]

This information would be of interest to myself, and, I suppose, 
others.  Please post it, if anyone has an answer to these queries.
Thanks.

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From: [email-masked] (Rick Young)
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 10:21:56 -0800

Hello,

Most of the wild honey bees it this area (Sunnyvale, California, USA - San
Francisco Bay area) have been killed by a mite. I am looking for an
alternative way to pollinate fruit trees in my backyard.  I have seen wood
blocks, with holes drilled in them, being sold as Mason Bee (Osmia Bee)
houses.  I would like to build my own.  I have been told you can build
similar houses for Carpenter Bees if the holes are larger.  I am also
interested in other solitary bees and Bumble Bees.

Has anyone had any experience with the above?

Thank you,

       Rick Young
- Rick  (EMail: [email-masked])

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From: Sean Overman <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 24 Mar 1996 21:42:26 -0800

> - Rick  (EMail: [email-masked])

Rick-

I have just finished reading a book by Brian L. Griffin called The 
Orchard Mason Bee.  It describes all you would need to know to get 
started with this little bee, including how to purchase bees and 
equipment (or build your own).  You can reach Brian at:

Brain L. Griffin
Knox Cellars
1607 Knox Avenue
Bellingham, Washington 98225
(360) 733-3283

or you can check out their home page at www.accessone.com/~knoxclr/

Good luck - Sean

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From: [email-masked] (Adam Finkelstein)
Date: 27 Mar 1996 12:54:48 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>,

>> - Rick  (EMail: [email-masked])

cross posted to seci.bio.entomology.misc

Adam 
-- 
_________________
Adam Finkelstein                    
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Doug Yanega)
Date: 28 Mar 1996 00:44:50 GMT

> >> What kind of wood is best for the Bee Houses?

AS far as I know, it doesn't matter much - not too soft, and ideally
angled almost imperceptibly downwards (so rainwater won't run *in*)

> >> What hole sizes are used for Mason Bees (Osmia Bees)?

About the diameter of a pen or pencil.

> >> What hole sizes are used for Carpenter Bees?

closer to the diameter of your index finger. Ideally, by having a large
variety of diameters, from very small to very large, you'll attract a
larger range of bees and wasps, virtually all of which are beneficial in
one respect or another (e.g., many Sphecid wasps eat hompterans such as
aphids, leafhoppers, etc.).

> >> Do you need to provide mud or water (or anything else) for them?

Generally speaking, they'll find it if they need it.

> >> Are Mason Bees (Osmia Bees) commonly found in northern California?

Several species, and Osmia isn't the only leafcutter bee genus that will
nest in holes.

> >> Any other advice or pollination suggestions?

Don't spray pesticides on the soil around your yard if you can avoid it,
mow in the evenings, and keep litter and debris down - this will help
encourage all the hundreds of species of native *ground-nesting* bees to
live in the area - genera such as Colletes, Andrena, and Halictus can be
very common visitors and pollinators of fruit trees *IF* they have a place
to form nesting aggregations in the ground (if you've got a thick,
carpet-like lawn, the odds are virtually zero). There are, after all,
3,000 native bee species, and all they need is a little encouragement.

Doug Yanega     ([email-masked])
Illinois Natural History Survey, 607 E. Peabody Dr. 
Champaign, IL 61820  USA  (217) 244-6817 fax:(217) 333-4949
affiliate, University of Illinois Dept. of Entomology
  http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu:80/~dyanega/my_home.html
"There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is
    the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick