Category Archives: Bees
Success with Mason Bees
Last year was great for Mason Bees. Our little colony grew significantly; and I’ve heard similar accounts from other Seattle gardeners. In fact, I now have more cocoons than I need. So I decided to give some of them away … Continue reading
Mason Bee Tally 2012
In early May I conservatively estimated we would end up with about 250 cocoons by the end of the season. As it turns out, this was a really good year for Mason bees. After sorting and cleaning, we have 430 … Continue reading
Harvesting Mason Bee Cocoons
By late September, mason bees have completed their development and are safely ensconced in their cocoons awaiting the return of spring. It’s a good idea to now extract the individual cocoons and store them in a safe and temperature-stable location. … Continue reading
Bumblebee Sex
Serendipitously, we were witness to a bumblebee queen mating in our garden. Not knowing much about bumblebees, we were quite surprised. Most other bee species mate earlier in the year. Honeybee queens do it in flight, so you never actually … Continue reading
Warre Hive Lift
Warre hives are similar to Langstroth hives, consisting of a stack of hive bodies. In principle, management of a Warre is exceedingly simple: add 2 empty boxes in spring, remove 2 full boxes in fall and extract the honey. A … Continue reading
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