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LinkedInPosts Tagged: bee condo
Hole in One
First you give them roots, then you give them wings. That's what's happening in our bee condo, a wooden block (nest) with drilled holes for leafcutting bees (Megachile). They flew in, laid their eggs, provisioned the nests with pollen and leaf fragments, and capped the holes. We had 11 tenants....
Hole in one--a hole signifying the emergence of a leafcutting bee (Megachile). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Leafcutting bee provisioning her nest. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Leafcutting bee on sedum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ten Tenants
Ten tenants.That's how many tenants are occupying our wooden bee block, aka "bee condo."It's "home, sweet home" for leafcutting bees (Megachile spp.).Daily we see these native bees tear holes in leaves (red bud, rose, catmint, gold coin, rock purslane and nectarine) and gather the fragments to line...
Two leafcutting bees (Megachile spp.) at their bee condo. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Leafcutter bee sipping nectar from a rock purslane. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Build It And They Will Come
Build it and they will come. Baseball's “Field of Dreams?” No, a bee nesting block. Think "bee condo." It's an artificial nesting site made of wood and drilled with different-sized holes and depths to accommodate the diversity of native pollinators. Often the bee block is...
This is a bee nesting block built to attract native pollinators. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A female leafcutting bee heads for the bee nesting block. The holes are of different diameters and depths to attract a greater diversity of native bees.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Leafcutter bees are just a few of the native bees that use a bee nesting block. The block faces the morning sun so that bees can warm themselves up to flight temperature. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
