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The most exposed bees are solitary bees and bumble bees, even though the issues with honey bees seems to be written about more in the press. It is relatively e

The most exposed bees are solitary bees and bumble bees, even though the issues with honey bees seems to be written about more in the press. It is relatively easy as an individual to give the bees a helping hand. One can buy or build a so called bee hotel [1]. It helps the bees with nesting site locations. When sited it requires essentially zero effort but supports the bees and other insects. One can also become a honey bee keeper, but it requires more effort. It is quite fascinating though. You can read about our efforts. [2] [1] http://www.arkinspace.com/2012/06/welcome-to-bee-hotel.html http://www.arkinspace.com/2012/06/welcome-to-bee-hotel.html [2] https://beginnerbeekeepers.wordpress.com https://beginnerbeekeepers.wordpress.com

hissworks 10y ago
You can also let dandelions grow rather than kill them off with weedkiller. When dandelions are in bloom they attract and sustain many types of bees and other insects. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2015/may/12/dandelions-pollinators-wildlife-garden http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2015/...
- rwmj 10y ago
  Also dandelions are good (and free!) eating. Never kill off dandelions.
deelowe 10y ago
I have those, except they're called "facia boards."
- TheBeardKing 10y ago
  I'm with you. My shed is a carpenter bee hotel.
jdnier 10y ago
This is a commercial site, but they do a lot of education work and have lots of good info on their site: http://crownbees.com/learn-mason-bees http://crownbees.com/learn-mason-bees I bought two starter tubes of blue orchard mason bees four years ago. Last year, I collected 100 filled tubes (natural reeds) of bees. Crown Bees recommends not using holes drilled in lumber because they're not very reusable and can spread disease (can't be cleaned). The bees seem to like natural reeds the best. I store my bees in their tubes in the fridge in a humidified box during the winter months, and harvest the tubes in April. I split open the tubes and collect and inspect the cocoons. Each tube can have 8-10 cocoons, although some fail completely. The population can grow very quickly when you care for them this way.
rihegher 10y ago
I'm living in south west of France where there is more and more of these insects hotels. Thing is, every time I pass by one of it I can't see any insect at all. Maybe it's because the weather was still cold on those times. Still every time I can't help wondering if it's really works as expected.
- bjelkeman-again 10y ago
  The insect hotel would generally contain more cocoons with larvae during the autumn and winter, when they stay longer. I saw some the other days that had two dozen or so insects cocoons per "hotel". I have heard of a guy with one of these on the seventh floor in a suburb, which had lots of use.
- jdnier 10y ago
  Each bee species is different. Blue mason bees, for example, are only active for 3-4 weeks when the first flowers appear, then they die. It's a pretty incredible life cycle: 11 months developing from egg -> larva-> then spin cocoon-> finally a few weeks to forage for pollen and lay their own eggs. There are many species of native bee with short cycles like this. The native bees you see in April will be different than the bees in June, different than in August.
- ageofwant 10y ago
  I can report that mine is about 2/3's occupied. Its a bit hard to tell if a single tube has been abandoned or the larvae has failed though. I've been considering making a bug hotel with a camera or the like to monitor that. Putting up bug hotels are quite popular: http://bushblitz.org.au/all-abuzz-about-new-bush-blitz-bee-hotel/ http://bushblitz.org.au/all-abuzz-about-new-bush-blitz-bee-h... http://www.sgaonline.org.au/insect-hotels/ http://www.sgaonline.org.au/insect-hotels/
eplanit 10y ago
"One can buy or build a so called bee hotel" In the Sharing Economy you can also use Air-Bee-n-Bee? (sorry, couldn't resist)
jly 10y ago
>> It is relatively easy as an individual to give the bees a helping hand. You can also choose to NOT spray harmful chemicals on your lawn/garden/landscaping. As a hobby beekeeper in a suburban area, I appreciate it when my bees are not bringing this junk back to their hive and my honey!
- barney54 10y ago
  Do you share you honey with your neighbors as a way of encouraging them to not use chemicals on their lawns and yards?
  - bjelkeman-again 10y ago
    Yes we do. Fortunately using pesticides and herbicides isn't very usual in our nearby neighbourhood. But that is just anecdotal. We have had a very strong support for keeping our bees and been surprised how engaged people are. Stopping by, asking questions, asking when they can buy more honey etc.
- hueving 10y ago
  This actually brings up an interesting property discussion. Normally it's pretty clear when someone is doing something on their property that harms the environment of other people's property (e.g. releasing gases, etc). In this particular case, it's your bees that are going onto the neighbors property and bringing back chemicals. Clearly you can't control the bees (unless you encase them in a dome) so it's not quite analogous to letting a dog roam around the neighborhood... I'm very curious what would happen if e.g. you tried to sue your neighbor for harming your bees.
  - maxerickson 10y ago
    I imagine the lawyer you asked about it would roll their eyes. There are restrictions on herbicides that can be used in most residential areas, I doubt you are going to get a court to override those rules and give bees priority.
enraged_camel 10y ago
This is going to be a very ignorant question, but... how do you make sure these bee hotels don't attract pests such as cockroaches?
- bjelkeman-again 10y ago
  Bees will attract pests, so you have to deal with it. The key threats here are: mice (restrict access during winter), birds (some people use netting during winter), bears (not where we are), hornets, ants (restrict access), but the most important pest is the varroa mite. There are several effective of none-pesticide methods, here are some: http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Treating_varroa_mites_organically/ http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Treating_varroa_mites_organ...

hissworks 10y ago

You can also let dandelions grow rather than kill them off with weedkiller. When dandelions are in bloom they attract and sustain many types of bees and other insects. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2015/may/12/dandelions-pollinators-wildlife-garden http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2015/...

rwmj 10y ago
Also dandelions are good (and free!) eating. Never kill off dandelions.

deelowe 10y ago

I have those, except they're called "facia boards."

TheBeardKing 10y ago
I'm with you. My shed is a carpenter bee hotel.

jdnier 10y ago

This is a commercial site, but they do a lot of education work and have lots of good info on their site: http://crownbees.com/learn-mason-bees http://crownbees.com/learn-mason-bees I bought two starter tubes of blue orchard mason bees four years ago. Last year, I collected 100 filled tubes (natural reeds) of bees. Crown Bees recommends not using holes drilled in lumber because they're not very reusable and can spread disease (can't be cleaned). The bees seem to like natural reeds the best. I store my bees in their tubes in the fridge in a humidified box during the winter months, and harvest the tubes in April. I split open the tubes and collect and inspect the cocoons. Each tube can have 8-10 cocoons, although some fail completely. The population can grow very quickly when you care for them this way.

rihegher 10y ago

I'm living in south west of France where there is more and more of these insects hotels. Thing is, every time I pass by one of it I can't see any insect at all. Maybe it's because the weather was still cold on those times. Still every time I can't help wondering if it's really works as expected.

bjelkeman-again 10y ago
The insect hotel would generally contain more cocoons with larvae during the autumn and winter, when they stay longer. I saw some the other days that had two dozen or so insects cocoons per "hotel". I have heard of a guy with one of these on the seventh floor in a suburb, which had lots of use.
jdnier 10y ago
Each bee species is different. Blue mason bees, for example, are only active for 3-4 weeks when the first flowers appear, then they die. It's a pretty incredible life cycle: 11 months developing from egg -> larva-> then spin cocoon-> finally a few weeks to forage for pollen and lay their own eggs. There are many species of native bee with short cycles like this. The native bees you see in April will be different than the bees in June, different than in August.
ageofwant 10y ago
I can report that mine is about 2/3's occupied. Its a bit hard to tell if a single tube has been abandoned or the larvae has failed though. I've been considering making a bug hotel with a camera or the like to monitor that. Putting up bug hotels are quite popular: http://bushblitz.org.au/all-abuzz-about-new-bush-blitz-bee-hotel/ http://bushblitz.org.au/all-abuzz-about-new-bush-blitz-bee-h... http://www.sgaonline.org.au/insect-hotels/ http://www.sgaonline.org.au/insect-hotels/

eplanit 10y ago

"One can buy or build a so called bee hotel" In the Sharing Economy you can also use Air-Bee-n-Bee? (sorry, couldn't resist)

jly 10y ago

>> It is relatively easy as an individual to give the bees a helping hand. You can also choose to NOT spray harmful chemicals on your lawn/garden/landscaping. As a hobby beekeeper in a suburban area, I appreciate it when my bees are not bringing this junk back to their hive and my honey!

barney54 10y ago
Do you share you honey with your neighbors as a way of encouraging them to not use chemicals on their lawns and yards?
- bjelkeman-again 10y ago
  Yes we do. Fortunately using pesticides and herbicides isn't very usual in our nearby neighbourhood. But that is just anecdotal. We have had a very strong support for keeping our bees and been surprised how engaged people are. Stopping by, asking questions, asking when they can buy more honey etc.
hueving 10y ago
This actually brings up an interesting property discussion. Normally it's pretty clear when someone is doing something on their property that harms the environment of other people's property (e.g. releasing gases, etc). In this particular case, it's your bees that are going onto the neighbors property and bringing back chemicals. Clearly you can't control the bees (unless you encase them in a dome) so it's not quite analogous to letting a dog roam around the neighborhood... I'm very curious what would happen if e.g. you tried to sue your neighbor for harming your bees.
- maxerickson 10y ago
  I imagine the lawyer you asked about it would roll their eyes. There are restrictions on herbicides that can be used in most residential areas, I doubt you are going to get a court to override those rules and give bees priority.

enraged_camel 10y ago

This is going to be a very ignorant question, but... how do you make sure these bee hotels don't attract pests such as cockroaches?

bjelkeman-again 10y ago
Bees will attract pests, so you have to deal with it. The key threats here are: mice (restrict access during winter), birds (some people use netting during winter), bears (not where we are), hornets, ants (restrict access), but the most important pest is the varroa mite. There are several effective of none-pesticide methods, here are some: http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Treating_varroa_mites_organically/ http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Treating_varroa_mites_organ...