Club Meetings:
4th Wednesday
of the month
Location:
Fairview School
205 Howard Ave, Nanaimo
Time:
7:00-9:00 pm.

No meetings Jul/August/Dec

ASK DEAR A-BEE

Dear A-Bee;
Could you tell me where to get bees and a bee house for my fruit trees? They need more pollinating.
Regards,
Bonnie

Dear Bonnie;

This is a common question, a simple issue with a complex answer.

In most cases, your fruit trees are probably being pollinated by wild bees, usually bumble bees. In my opinion, the best way to boost this pollination is by planting LOTS of flowers in the immediate vicinity to attract more bees. Also, having lots of other pollen sources such as willow trees, alders, and hazel nuts can help.

The alternative is to bring in other bees, either honey bees or Mason (Blue Orchard) bees. It is possible to "rent" honey bees just for pollination services, or you can purchase honey bees from various suppliers, complete with hive boxes, etc. Contacts for suppliers can be found on our bee club website: http://www.nanaimobeekeepers.com

If you would like to get Mason bees, I do not know of any specific suppliers........ Maybe you would like to put a request in our monthly newsletter.

I have been very fortunate that Mason bees were common on my property before I came here. They make their mud "nests" in nooks and crannies found in open barns and out-buildings. Also, there are lots of sources of pollen here, such as alder, and wild flowers. But most important, there are several ditches along my property, running most of the year, and they have lots of mud along the edges that the bees can use.

I have given Mason bee "colonies" to a number of people, and in most cases, these bees have just disappeared, without doing any pollinating. I believe that the conditions in those peoples' orchards were not adequate to sustain the Mason bees, so they just moved away. Having adequate sources of mud for these bees to build nests is absolutely essential, from mid-March to late August. Having mud in only March and April is not good enough. Are conditions for Mason bees in your area adequate to sustain them?

You can do a simple test to see if Mason bees are common in your area. Just set up a house for them. There are designs for Mason (or Blue Orchard) bee houses on the internet. The way I started I just got some 1 x 4 boards (which are actually about 3/4 inches by 3 1/2 inches in cross-section), and cut short pieces (about 6 inches long) and I drilled one end with a 5/16 inch drill lengthwise. These holes should not go all the way through, but allow the hole to be closed at the end. Ordinary drill bits and "speed bits" work fine. I used a drill press and a jig to hold the pieces. I drilled about 5 or 6 holes in each piece, equally spaced. This is quite an onerous task, requiring lots of patience because the holes are long, and the bits don't self-clear. Apparently the recommended depth of hole is 7 inches (sorry, I don't have the reference for this), and such a long hole is difficult to drill. There are other ways of doing this. I have tried routering the 1 x 4s and clamping them together, but that is a whole new method, with its own benefits and faults (not the least of which is I can't find a 5/16 round router bits). The 5/16 inch hole (round) isn't exclusive (the Mason bees will use bigger or smaller holes) but I would say it is optimal. Anyway the final step is to clamp these boards together with all the holes at the same end. Most people build a little house to hold these. These Mason bee houses should be put near your orchard (within 100 feet), and should be protected from woodpeckers. Put these houses out in mid-March and by the end of April you should see the holes plugged with mud if you have any Mason bees around. If your bee house doesn't have any Mason bees colonizing it, you could have a look around to determine if your site has all the factors needed to sustain Mason bees. If not, you might just be wasting your time to try to bring Mason bees in. Go to plan A: plant lots of flowers.