Mason bees prefer bamboo nests.

This is the first year we set out bamboo nests at the same time as wood block nests. It appears the bees prefer bamboo nests. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Mason bees at work

Blueberry blossoms are at their peak and the Mason bees are still at work. This nest is in some rows of Bluecrop to boost the chances of a good fruit set.

Mason bee entering nest

Mason bee exiting nest

Arrow bamboo

The bamboo used for Mason bee nests is about 5/16″ opening at the top of the stalk and larger at the bottom of the bamboo stalk. The bees accept either sized opening. In fact, in the picture below the bamboo tube is almost 1/2″ in size. Notice that the cocoons on the right are vertical in the tube compared to the cocoons on the left so the bees can adapt to larger bamboo nests. ( The three yellow cells are infestations of pollen mites.)

large bamboo nest

Yesterday I visited “CANADA’S BAMBOO WORLD’ in Chilliwack B.C. to identify the kind of bamboo we had been using for mason bee nests. It appears to be “Pseudosasa japonica” or “arrow bamboo”. This  is from their catalogue.

Pseudosasa japonica (Arrow Bamboo)

* Max height 18’ (Estimated West Coast Maximum Height 15 feet) * Max culm diameter .75″ * Min. temp -26C * Sun/Shade * Running Bamboo *

The culms are erect with rather large leaves, up to a foot long by 1.5 inches wide.  It does well in tubs and pots.   Very tropical looking with it’s large leaves.  An excellent choice for indoors. (1 gallon $14.00, 2 gallon $19.00, 3 gallon $29.00, 5 gallon $38.00, 7 gallon $48.00)

Source:http://www.bambooworld.com/bamboo%20catalogue.htm

Bamboo nests for Mason bees

Perren (11years old) is cutting bamboo stalks to make Mason bee nests. We have observed that mason bees display a preference for bamboo nests. One way to monitor the effectiveness of these nests is to check the year over year increase in mason bees.We have a count of the cocoons going into this season so it will be easy calculate the rate of increase.

bamboo

The nests we are making will be for the 2010 season. The bamboo will have a year to dry out.

cutting between and at the nodes