Posts Tagged: leafcutting bees

Bed Check!

All winter long my bee condo housed 16 tenants...and one earwig. And quite comfortably, too, thank you. It all began last fall when the leafcutting bees laid their eggs, provisioned each nest with a nectar/pollen ball, and plugged it with leaves. Just...

Newly emerged leafcutter bee outside her nest. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Newly emerged leafcutter bee outside her nest. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

One leafcutter bee is tucked in head first; the other is ready to leave. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

One leafcutter bee is tucked in head first; the other is ready to leave. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Snug as a Bug in a...Bee Condo

When you try to attract leafcutting bees (Megachile spp.) to your bee condos, you may also attract something else.Wasps.Bee condos (wood blocks drilled with holes for native bee nests) are a favorite of gardeners and bee enthusiasts. Leafcutting bees lay...

Bee condo for leafcutting bees includes the offspring (left) of a solitary mason wasp. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bee condo for leafcutting bees includes the offspring (left) of a solitary mason wasp. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Leafcutting bee (left) emerges from her hole in a photo taken last summer. At right a plugged hole. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Leafcutting bee (left) emerges from her hole in a photo taken last summer. At right a plugged hole. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Leafcutting bee sealing her nest in a photo taken last summer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Leafcutting bee sealing her nest in a photo taken last summer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Home Invasion!

When you install bee condos--those wooden blocks with holes drilled in them to attract nesting native bees--sometimes you get the unexpected. Like earwigs! Home invasion! Home invasion! We installed two bee condos, each about the size of a brick, in...

Earwig inside a blue orchard bee condo, which has larger holes than one for leafcutting bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Earwig inside a blue orchard bee condo, which has larger holes than one for leafcutting bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This bee condo for leafcutting bees has 10 tenants. It is about the size of a brick and has smaller holes than a bee block for blue orchard bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bee condo for leafcutting bees has 10 tenants. It is about the size of a brick. It has smaller holes than those for blue orchard bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Leafcutting bee provisioning her nest. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Leafcutting bee provisioning her nest. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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