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Barnyard Buddies:  Mason Bees are here!  |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6528 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6528 Posts |
 Posted - May 19 2014 : 5:01:16 PM
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Mary Jane posted about Mason Bees on her RaisinJane blog a few months ago and it caught my attention. Mason bees pollinate flowers, garden, and orchards but they do not produce honey. So, I went to CrownBees.com and read all about them and just had to try raising some myself. They arrived on Saturday and when I got home on Sunday, I dove into the box and looked at all of the parts of my starter's kit. 
Here is what I found and put together today;
The BeeBungalo House looks like a long birdhouse with 3 sides. Per instructions, it is located on the East side of the house which gets some morning sun and protection of the overhang of the house.
The bees are sent in cocoons which have to hatch. Now that the temps are warm enough, they bees will hatch in their little BeeGuardian Bag. This is a fine mesh bag with a velcro closure that allows the cocoons to be safe from would be parasitic wasps, birds and other predators.
When the first one hatches, I am supposed to take them out of the BeeGuardian bag, place them in the back of their house and put their nesting structure in front of them.
As they hatch, the crawl out the back hole of the house, fly off and come back to nest and eventually lay their eggs in these long tubes. Pretty cool, Eh?
I have placed the BeeGuardian in the house for the hatching period of 23 days to 4 weeks.
I will keep you posted on how it all works out. This is very exciting and I hope to have my own swarm of bees for my flowers and neighborhood this summer. In Florida, the bees that live here are called Summer Leafcutter Bees. Stay tuned for more Bee News!
Winnie #3109 |
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nndairy
True Blue Farmgirl
3004 Posts
Heather
Wapakoneta
Ohio
USA
3004 Posts |
Posted - May 20 2014 : 10:15:22 AM
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Way cool! Thanks for sharing this with us. I look forward to seeing how it works for you.
Heather
Farmgirl Sister #4701
http://nndairy.blogspot.com/
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Killarney
True Blue Farmgirl
4925 Posts
Connie
Arlington
TN
USA
4925 Posts |
Posted - May 21 2014 : 10:49:11 AM
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Winnie, awesome!!! our bees are so important to our survival!!!
Connie
Imagine....#3392 |
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Bear5
True Blue Farmgirl
13055 Posts
Louisiana/Texas
USA
13055 Posts |
Posted - May 21 2014 : 2:45:15 PM
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Very interesting Winnie! I look forward to hearing and seeing more. Thanks for sharing.
Marly
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross |
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Madinet85
True Blue Farmgirl
94 Posts
Elizabeth
Indiana
USA
94 Posts |
Posted - May 25 2014 : 3:58:50 PM
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Very cool! I can't wait to see how it turns out!
Farmgirl Sister #4915 |
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Killarney
True Blue Farmgirl
4925 Posts
Connie
Arlington
TN
USA
4925 Posts |
Posted - May 25 2014 : 5:57:45 PM
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I have mine ordered!
Connie
Imagine....#3392 |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6528 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6528 Posts |
Posted - May 26 2014 : 04:51:27 AM
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How fun , Connie!! I can't wait to hear all about how your bees do. So far, my cocoons haven't changed in their BeeGuardian pouch. I know they say it takes 4 weeks or so but I keep checking every other day just in case my bees are precocious!! LOL!!!
Winnie#3109 |
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wooliespinner
True Blue Farmgirl
1311 Posts
Linda
Manchester
Ohio
1311 Posts |
Posted - May 30 2014 : 1:40:58 PM
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We have several mason bee houses and they are going to town. We have had them for about 8 years now and we find them fascinating. We ordered the mason bee houses from Gardners supply. They do really pollinate and are cute little guys.Good luck and I hope they all hatch for you.
Linda
Raspberry Run Farm
Nubian Dairy Goats |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6528 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6528 Posts |
Posted - Jun 12 2014 : 1:04:32 PM
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I am so happy to report that my FIRST Mason Bee hatched today from the cocoon!! I am so excited!! I was amazed at how tiny it actually was and almost didn't notice it. From the day the cocoons were placed in their BeeGuardian hatching bag to the first born was 24 days. So, per kit instructions, the rest of the cocoons were placed in the back of the BeeHouse behind the nesting tube structure so the remaining can hatch and fly out of the small hole in the back of the BeeHouse. Pretty cool!! I hope the rest hatch properly so that I can watch them coming and going this summer.
Stay tuned for more Bee News!
Winnie #3109 |
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wooliespinner
True Blue Farmgirl
1311 Posts
Linda
Manchester
Ohio
1311 Posts |
Posted - Jun 16 2014 : 09:44:08 AM
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Winnie thats is too cool. I am glad their starting to hatch for you. Hopefully more will hatch and they will get estabished before you know it.
Linda
Raspberry Run Farm
Nubian Dairy Goats |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6528 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6528 Posts |
Posted - Jun 16 2014 : 3:09:37 PM
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I checked yesterday and there were 7 more empty cocoons but still lots left to hatch. I just hope they all hatch so that I will have a nice batch of bees to watch. More Bee News as it happens!
Winnie #3109 |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Jun 16 2014 : 3:33:14 PM
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Winnie! This is so awesome! I've never seen how Mason bees are shipped or raised before! I'm so excited for you - CONGRATULATIONS! Looking forward to following you on this journey! Thank you so much for sharing! SO cool! Hugs - Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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Calicogirl
True Blue Farmgirl
5216 Posts
Sharon
Bruce Crossing
Michigan
USA
5216 Posts |
Posted - Jun 17 2014 : 3:34:24 PM
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This is so neat Winnie! How exciting. I love hearing the progress. Thanks so much for sharing!
Farmgirl Sister #5392
By His Grace, For His Glory
~Sharon
http://amerryheartjournal.blogspot.com/
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6528 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6528 Posts |
Posted - Jun 20 2014 : 12:08:06 PM
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Today, I took out the Mason Bee housing block to check on the cocoon progress. Well, I was greeted by 5 little bees all ready to leave. I turned the house so that the sun shone inside, the bees oriented to the sun and took off.
Not the little bee at the right hand side of the photo getting ready to fly away!
Boy, they were quick to fly out once they saw that sunlight. The little darlins'!!!!
More cocoons yet to hatch but I think we are on a roll now. I am so happy to actually see them big enough to fly. The new hatchlings are so tiny and you don't see the yellow bands or fuzz on their bodies. I think they come out of the cocoon, stay inside until they get bigger maybe living off something already stored in their bodies or some part of the cocoon until they get much bigger. There was a tiny little black bee inside the cocoon area this morning which I have seen before and is what my first bee looked like. If you watch them for a few minutes, you will see one leg or another make a tiny movement.
This project is so fun to watch unfold. I am looking forward to seeing how they come back to the BeeHouse and finally create cocoons before they die.
Stay tuned for more BeeNews!
Winnie #3109 |
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Killarney
True Blue Farmgirl
4925 Posts
Connie
Arlington
TN
USA
4925 Posts |
Posted - Jun 20 2014 : 12:10:04 PM
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SO exciting Winnie!!!
Connie
Imagine....#3392 |
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nndairy
True Blue Farmgirl
3004 Posts
Heather
Wapakoneta
Ohio
USA
3004 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2014 : 08:34:16 AM
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Thanks for the update! This is a fun project to follow. :)
Heather
Farmgirl Sister #4701
http://nndairy.blogspot.com/
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mrssarahhall
True Blue Farmgirl
1266 Posts
Sarah
Longmont
Colorado
USA
1266 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2014 : 06:40:41 AM
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Wow, Winnie, that is so cool! Thanks for posting photos! We have mason bees that nest in a section of our fence that is large bamboo pieces, They like to nest in the hollow at the top. So cool! I have never seen a mason bee house like the one you got, I am intrigued! :)
Sarah
Farmgirl # 5223
"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone." - Audrey Hepburn
All good things are wild and free- Henry David Thoreau
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6528 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6528 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2014 : 10:32:20 AM
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Bee update! This morning I opened up the BeeHouse again, took out the housing piece and let the sunbeam shine in. Yep, suddenly several pairs of antennae popped up and little bees crawled over the empty cocoons to the house edge, flapped their wings and took off. It was so fun to watch. I then took out the rest of the cocoons, removed the old ones, and found several newly hatched bees. At this stage, they are solid black, and barely moving their legs. After several more days, they are upright, antennae up, yellow with black stripes and fluttering their wings when they orient to the sunbeam. I could tell that several other cocoons are ready to hatch as you can see the back end of the bee starting to move out of the cocoon. Everything was carefully placed back the way it was and I will open it again on Sunday or Monday to see the progress.
So, since June 12, which was 24 days after the cocoons were first placed outside to hatch, over half of them are hatched and more keep coming everyday. It has taken 11 more days and if this schedule continues, they should all be hatched by July 14 or so.
I am anxious to see how they come back to the house over the summer!
Stay tuned for more BeeNews from Red Tractor Girl's "My Tiny Farm"!
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See the last of my green beans I got ? By the way, how many of you remember "My Tiny Farm" from 2012??
Winnie #3109 |
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Calicogirl
True Blue Farmgirl
5216 Posts
Sharon
Bruce Crossing
Michigan
USA
5216 Posts |
Posted - Jul 01 2014 : 05:56:47 AM
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This is exciting Winnie, thanks so much for sharing :)I love hearing about your adventures and the excitement of seeing life.
Farmgirl Sister #5392
By His Grace, For His Glory
~Sharon
http://amerryheartjournal.blogspot.com/
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PinkCsmtlgy
Farmgirl in Training
18 Posts
Brandi
Martinsburg
Pennsylvania
USA
18 Posts |
Posted - Jul 01 2014 : 6:41:57 PM
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| That is so cool, I hope they come back over the summer. |
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Barnyard Buddies: Mason Bees are here! |
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Mason Bees are here!
