I have a windchime hanging out front, it's made up of hollow tubes and guess who has decided to start a nest in at least one of the tubes. I know you really can't see the bee clearly but I checked her out yesterday when I first saw her and her bright metallic green body. Mason Bee entering chime tube ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) That I have seen she has made 4 trips inside that tube today. Hopefully she is filling it up with eggs and pollen and next Spring there will be a big batch of new Mason Bees for my garden.
Just think about what they will be hearing when it chimes. I had to do a search on then. They are very cute buggers.
That's awesome. I just read up on them. They are great! I think I'll buy or make a nest for them. Hopefully, I'll get some in my garden!
Solitary Bees and how to keep them I posted a link to a lot of information about Mason Bees and other solitary bees in late July, you can find out about how to set up a nesting spot for them. I am so excited to have at least one of them. They do not attack if you get near their nest like honeybees will, but I did find out this morning that they do get upset when your head hits their nest. I went to have a wander through the front garden, totally forgetting that the lady bee might be at work, hit the chimes with my head and heard this really loud, angry buzzing to my left. Sorry about that little momma, I will be more careful in the future.
Toni, ringing the chimes with your head may not be music to the mason bee! We have three sets of tube wind chimes, and so far two of them have Mason bees in at least three of the tubes. After your post, I went out to look and sure enough, there were bees in some of the tubes. Thanks for the "heads up !
What a peculiar place for a mason bee. I can imagine the young ones coming out holding their ears saying, "The bells, the bells", like in Victor Hugo's novel.
Neat...I never thought about them making a nest in my chimes. We have to bring ours in every winter. The garage is still cold ...
She is still busy working on that one chime, I saw her a couple of days ago scoping out a hole in the wooden stand on the porch where the screw holding the wooden pieces together had been countersunk about half an inch. She realized it was way too shallow and decided to look for another home. If you see smallish holes in the ground you might have some building nests there. Basically any kind of convenient hole is where they can be.
Thank you for the information! I'm planning a hotel in my mind right now! It involves either a small bucket or large flower pot with multiple toilet paper rolls that are filled with bamboo sticks and maybe a few drilled blocks of wood to get other sized holes. I can't wait to get started! Considering this bee is laying eggs in that chime, do you think it should be buffered from the others so they don't knock anymore?
I was watching her go in and out yesterday and that same thing occurred to me, I am going to tape them together to keep them from moving around so much on windy days...if we have a windy day. The slight breeze we have once in a while doesn't appear to deter her but I have no idea what a good strong wind will do to the little ones. And this winter if the tube has something in it I am going to move it into the back room to keep it warm.
Toni, that is very cool! I first saw Mason bee hotels at a garden in Bar Harbor Maine. The little bees are very gentle, and look like more like a fly than a bee, right?
