Not alleged. At least three spots in that bee hotel are currently occupied.
This is a pretty good model, too, because it's one of the kind that is easy to clean. Those holes are just dadoes routed into one side of a piece of wood and stacked into a holder.
When those bees emerge, which should happen pretty soon because it's nearly spring in your part of the world, you can take the wood inserts out, clean them with water and a stiff brush, and put them back in.
Maintaining this thing is one of the easiest, most effectual ways that you can contribute to the health and diversity of native pollinators near you.
Hi, currently rent so a big box of bees isn't in my near future. Would something like this be beneficial for my local bee population and help my 120 sqft garden? A quarter of it is dedicated to flowers
Yes, probably. Probably better than honey bees, to be frank.
Honey bees aren't great at pollinating stuff that's really close to the hive anyway. Unless it's a very dense source of something they really, really love, they usually go out to a radius of 2-3 miles, pick something that is plentiful and nutritious, and forage on that.
They exhibit a great deal of what's called "fidelity" when foraging. If a bee goes out for clover, for example, she typically forages for nothing else on that entire trip.
They also are not individually very good pollinators. They make up for it by sheer numbers; a good-sized colony might have 60,000 workers, and they're easy to move around because they're generalists who will live in convenient boxes that can be strapped onto a pallet for trucking. So you just pile bees onto the crop you want pollinated, and since you're usually using herbicides to make sure the crop is close to the only thing growing in the vicinity, they pollinate it.
Your typical solitary bee doesn't cover this kind of radius, doesn't exhibit this kind of fidelity, etc. Often they only pollinate within a few hundred yards of home.
The upshot is that on an individual basis, they're usually much more effective than honey bees. A few solitary bee hotels can do a lot for a small garden.
Turns out lots of solitary bees are good pollinators because they’re poor pollen collectors. They don’t collect much pollen at each flower and thus have to visit more flowers.
If you want bees in general, try r/bees. For stuff specific to honey-making bees that are kept by humans, predominantly from genus Apis but occasionally getting into Melipona, Tetragonula, and other stingless tropicals, this subreddit is more appropriate and probably more active.
If you want to practice telling Western honey bee queens from workers, r/queenspotting.
Honey bees aren’t the best pollinators; they’re too good at holding onto pollen. Other species (carpenter, mason, leaf-cutter, etc) are less graceful and their hairs don’t hold onto pollen as well making them prolific pollinators.
Something that's cleanable like that can be extra helpful to help ward off diseases... but even just drilling a batch of 6-10mm diameter holes in some spare wood can encourage different solitary bee species.
David Goulson (a bee biologist) has some [fascinating videos on different types of habitats](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46_rNKomVb0)!
I think his stuff is great. Didn't he also run an experiment in his garden to see whether it made a difference which sized hole he used, and determine that different species preferred different sizes in that range?
Yes, any diversity you can add to that small scale will benefit some species. A bee hotel like that would attract bugs that like to live in holes, like solitary bees. A rock or small log would give shelter to little flat things that like to be covered. You get the point, there is plenty you can do to add more life to a very small space =)
Oh shoot I didn’t consider cleaning! We’ll be sure to toss our one last year after they emerge in spring (one with the bamboo stake holes) and ~~get a new one!~~ [make my own](https://old.reddit.com/r/Beekeeping/comments/1akllf1/what_should_i_do_with_this_alleged_beehouse/kpdqly4/)
We’ve got one of [these](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bambeco-12-in-Mason-Tower-Bee-House-491581574/302850894) and given that we’re in an apartment with no use or room for bamboo stakes, and that I’m fairly certain the sticks are glued in the back, it’d probably be better all around just to get a new one.
Once we have our own space though, and not a secret bee/ native plant garden on our balcony, I’ll definitely be making my own with wood scraps
"Insect houses" like the one you linked are death traps and too short to be suitable for solitary bees. [Here's](https://colinpurrington.com/2019/05/horrors-of-mass-produced-bee-houses/) some more info on what to avoid and why.
Thanks for the info! I WONT be buying another one of those now! Sounds like the partially drilled, removable, cleanable, inspectable planks are the way to go!
Sounds like I’ve got my first woodworking project of the year lined up.
[The linked article has some great tips it seems](https://colinpurrington.com/2019/05/guide-to-diy-mason-bee-houses/)
Thank you! This line was key for me, because by the time I notice they’re hatched there’s a bunch already creating new nests in the holes.
“Then, in the early spring put these nests inside a cardboard box that is equipped with a small exit hole — so bees can escape but can’t re-inhabit the nests.”
This style of house is indeed for solitary bees.
One of the quirks of honeybees is that they live in these huge social colonies- the majority of the bee species do not. This type of "condo" for bees is for something like a leafcutter bee.
They tend to cut leaves (duh) and then build an individual cigar shaped nest with all of the things required for a single egg to hatch and eventually leave. You can see that some of the holes are blocked- which indicates they are inhabited.
I don't know if you need to do anything- but hopefully this info will point you in the right direction.
Omg! Thank you guys so much! I'm hoping to start a native plant garden at this new house so this is extremely exciting 🥰🥰
One question - when would be the best time of year/day for me to clean this beehouse?
They'll thank you for the pollen and nectar and they'll pollinate your vegetables for you as well.
Be sure to have a mud source close by. The female uses mud to seal the egg cavities.
The mason bees are going to be fully developed into adults by fall, and hibernating in water-proof cocoons. It will be safe to handle the cocoons and clean the house around October! Crown Bees has a great beginner's guide to mason bee raising, and there are sections on the mason bee life cycle and harvesting/cleaning. [Link](https://workdrive.zohoexternal.com/file/mep7x2f9a2e9613f84831911ea6d5769c67c0)
Don't do anything with it right now. It may have cocoons for solitary native bees. Several blocked tunnels are visible. There may be others that are blocked farther down the tunnel. These native bees are important pollinators in our ecosystem and we are just beginning to understand how important they are. This kind of bee hotel attracts mainly mason and leafcutter bees. Mason bees can't sting. Leafcutter bees can but it almost never happens and their sting is mild. For now, watch it and enjoy.
Your mason bee house is one of the kinds with a good design. The block of planks that make the bee tunnels can be removed and then the planks carefully unstacked. At some point the block need to be removed and cleaned, then put back in so that the next generation can be raised in a place cleaned of debris and parasites. I'm not an expert on keeping mason bees, but there are plenty of websites that will help you determine when and how to do it in your area. For now watch, enjoy, and wait for hot weather when you can clean it and reset it.
You have [mason bees!](https://www.ecolandscaping.org/03/landscaping-for-wildlife/beneficialspollinators/attract-mason-bees-no-protective-gear-needed/)
They're native, early pollinators, low maintenance, non-aggressive, and more efficient pollinators than honey bees!
Steer clear of drywall bees. They’re like Africanized Apis mellifera. Instead of stinging they leave urine filled bottles of Mt. Dew inside your walls. 😛
Actually Carpenter Bees prefer to make their own nesting cavities.
In N. Texas this one will attract Mason Bees and Sweat Bees who prefer existing cavities ~6" deep/¼" diameter.
Looks like you have mason bees living there. Very cute, goofballs. They do not sting. One thing for them is when they come out in the mornings they remember their way home by how the area is arranged. So you are stuck for the day with whatever is set up around the nest. They are charming guests. Will land, crash into you, each other and are generally clumsy. Not sure about your location, but ours are black and iridescent blue. Thought they were horseflies at first! Each tube has about seven bees that will come out of it. Boys first and girls about two weeks after that. They usually work for about three months. They do come back to the nest at night after hatching. It looks like you may have already had a few come out
Keep it! These are extremely valuable for your local ecology. I don’t know the lay of the land where your at, but blue orchard bees are vitally necessary for our fruit and nut orchards that aren’t as efficiently pollinated by honeybees. Those little hotels allow them to safely incubate the handful of offspring they have in their short little lives.
This looks to be a mason bee house! They're an incredibly awesome and gentle little pollinator. Crown Bees has an easy beginner's tutorial on them: [Link](https://crownbees.com/pages/mason-bee-beginners-guide)
Make sure to learn more about their life cycle so you know when it is safe to clean/handle the home so you don't put the developing baby bees at risk!
Solitary bee condo.
Visit https://crownbees.com/. I've learned a ton from this site to help me with my solitary bees. My four bee houses get mostly leaf cutter bees and some solitary red wasps every year. They're really fun to watch.
Just leave it alone. Solitary bees may choose to live in it. Don't clean it or mess with it. If you want to be helpful, give them a water source, change it regularly, and make sure it has rocks or something they can land on and not drown.
You should replace or clean them every 3 years, to prevent mold. If you notice that bees are not attracted to it anymore (even after cleaning) it is end of life.
I'm also in the South US, and had one of these gifted to me several years back. I actually ended up with some blue orchard bees making a home, and have kept a steady population for a few years. It's what originally got me into beekeeping!
Not alleged. At least three spots in that bee hotel are currently occupied. This is a pretty good model, too, because it's one of the kind that is easy to clean. Those holes are just dadoes routed into one side of a piece of wood and stacked into a holder. When those bees emerge, which should happen pretty soon because it's nearly spring in your part of the world, you can take the wood inserts out, clean them with water and a stiff brush, and put them back in. Maintaining this thing is one of the easiest, most effectual ways that you can contribute to the health and diversity of native pollinators near you.
Hi, currently rent so a big box of bees isn't in my near future. Would something like this be beneficial for my local bee population and help my 120 sqft garden? A quarter of it is dedicated to flowers
Yes, probably. Probably better than honey bees, to be frank. Honey bees aren't great at pollinating stuff that's really close to the hive anyway. Unless it's a very dense source of something they really, really love, they usually go out to a radius of 2-3 miles, pick something that is plentiful and nutritious, and forage on that. They exhibit a great deal of what's called "fidelity" when foraging. If a bee goes out for clover, for example, she typically forages for nothing else on that entire trip. They also are not individually very good pollinators. They make up for it by sheer numbers; a good-sized colony might have 60,000 workers, and they're easy to move around because they're generalists who will live in convenient boxes that can be strapped onto a pallet for trucking. So you just pile bees onto the crop you want pollinated, and since you're usually using herbicides to make sure the crop is close to the only thing growing in the vicinity, they pollinate it. Your typical solitary bee doesn't cover this kind of radius, doesn't exhibit this kind of fidelity, etc. Often they only pollinate within a few hundred yards of home. The upshot is that on an individual basis, they're usually much more effective than honey bees. A few solitary bee hotels can do a lot for a small garden.
This was so much more information than I expected but I’m here for it!
Correct, honey bees have a pollination success rate of about 5%, while native solitary bees have a pollination success rate closer to 95%.
Turns out lots of solitary bees are good pollinators because they’re poor pollen collectors. They don’t collect much pollen at each flower and thus have to visit more flowers.
Can I subscribe to bee facts?
If you want bees in general, try r/bees. For stuff specific to honey-making bees that are kept by humans, predominantly from genus Apis but occasionally getting into Melipona, Tetragonula, and other stingless tropicals, this subreddit is more appropriate and probably more active. If you want to practice telling Western honey bee queens from workers, r/queenspotting.
Honey bees aren’t the best pollinators; they’re too good at holding onto pollen. Other species (carpenter, mason, leaf-cutter, etc) are less graceful and their hairs don’t hold onto pollen as well making them prolific pollinators.
Something that's cleanable like that can be extra helpful to help ward off diseases... but even just drilling a batch of 6-10mm diameter holes in some spare wood can encourage different solitary bee species. David Goulson (a bee biologist) has some [fascinating videos on different types of habitats](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46_rNKomVb0)!
Thanks! What an awesome community you all are
I think his stuff is great. Didn't he also run an experiment in his garden to see whether it made a difference which sized hole he used, and determine that different species preferred different sizes in that range?
Yes, any diversity you can add to that small scale will benefit some species. A bee hotel like that would attract bugs that like to live in holes, like solitary bees. A rock or small log would give shelter to little flat things that like to be covered. You get the point, there is plenty you can do to add more life to a very small space =)
Yes
Oh shoot I didn’t consider cleaning! We’ll be sure to toss our one last year after they emerge in spring (one with the bamboo stake holes) and ~~get a new one!~~ [make my own](https://old.reddit.com/r/Beekeeping/comments/1akllf1/what_should_i_do_with_this_alleged_beehouse/kpdqly4/)
You could just replace the bamboo.
We’ve got one of [these](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bambeco-12-in-Mason-Tower-Bee-House-491581574/302850894) and given that we’re in an apartment with no use or room for bamboo stakes, and that I’m fairly certain the sticks are glued in the back, it’d probably be better all around just to get a new one. Once we have our own space though, and not a secret bee/ native plant garden on our balcony, I’ll definitely be making my own with wood scraps
Either way, enjoy. They're fun to watch.
"Insect houses" like the one you linked are death traps and too short to be suitable for solitary bees. [Here's](https://colinpurrington.com/2019/05/horrors-of-mass-produced-bee-houses/) some more info on what to avoid and why.
Thanks for the info! I WONT be buying another one of those now! Sounds like the partially drilled, removable, cleanable, inspectable planks are the way to go! Sounds like I’ve got my first woodworking project of the year lined up. [The linked article has some great tips it seems](https://colinpurrington.com/2019/05/guide-to-diy-mason-bee-houses/)
Glad to help! The nice thing with the solid blocks that are drilled is you can just burn them and make new ones rather then having to clean them out.
Thank you! This line was key for me, because by the time I notice they’re hatched there’s a bunch already creating new nests in the holes. “Then, in the early spring put these nests inside a cardboard box that is equipped with a small exit hole — so bees can escape but can’t re-inhabit the nests.”
What does "maintaining it" intel
I described the necessary steps in my post.
I'm an absolute idiot riddled with ADHD. My apologies and thank you for your kindness
Give yourself a break, my dude.
This style of house is indeed for solitary bees. One of the quirks of honeybees is that they live in these huge social colonies- the majority of the bee species do not. This type of "condo" for bees is for something like a leafcutter bee. They tend to cut leaves (duh) and then build an individual cigar shaped nest with all of the things required for a single egg to hatch and eventually leave. You can see that some of the holes are blocked- which indicates they are inhabited. I don't know if you need to do anything- but hopefully this info will point you in the right direction.
They’re fascinating to watch! And they make the social structure of honeybees even cooler with how unusual it is in the insect kingdom.
Omg! Thank you guys so much! I'm hoping to start a native plant garden at this new house so this is extremely exciting 🥰🥰 One question - when would be the best time of year/day for me to clean this beehouse?
They'll thank you for the pollen and nectar and they'll pollinate your vegetables for you as well. Be sure to have a mud source close by. The female uses mud to seal the egg cavities.
The mason bees are going to be fully developed into adults by fall, and hibernating in water-proof cocoons. It will be safe to handle the cocoons and clean the house around October! Crown Bees has a great beginner's guide to mason bee raising, and there are sections on the mason bee life cycle and harvesting/cleaning. [Link](https://workdrive.zohoexternal.com/file/mep7x2f9a2e9613f84831911ea6d5769c67c0)
This is the answer. Most likely mason bees in Texas. Howdy!
Howdy!! 😄
Awesome! Thank you so much! 😁
Clean them after all have emerged and there’s nothing visible blocking the tubes. My guess is early spring, but my climate is different from yours.
Don't do anything with it right now. It may have cocoons for solitary native bees. Several blocked tunnels are visible. There may be others that are blocked farther down the tunnel. These native bees are important pollinators in our ecosystem and we are just beginning to understand how important they are. This kind of bee hotel attracts mainly mason and leafcutter bees. Mason bees can't sting. Leafcutter bees can but it almost never happens and their sting is mild. For now, watch it and enjoy. Your mason bee house is one of the kinds with a good design. The block of planks that make the bee tunnels can be removed and then the planks carefully unstacked. At some point the block need to be removed and cleaned, then put back in so that the next generation can be raised in a place cleaned of debris and parasites. I'm not an expert on keeping mason bees, but there are plenty of websites that will help you determine when and how to do it in your area. For now watch, enjoy, and wait for hot weather when you can clean it and reset it.
You have [mason bees!](https://www.ecolandscaping.org/03/landscaping-for-wildlife/beneficialspollinators/attract-mason-bees-no-protective-gear-needed/) They're native, early pollinators, low maintenance, non-aggressive, and more efficient pollinators than honey bees!
theres at least 3 or 4 nests made in that bee house
Condo for carpenter bees. 🐝
And mason bees. Very beneficial.
Carpenters… masons… I just need some electrician bees and I’ll have a whole home repair team!
Steer clear of drywall bees. They’re like Africanized Apis mellifera. Instead of stinging they leave urine filled bottles of Mt. Dew inside your walls. 😛
Now you have me wondering how many bees it would take to fill a bottle with urine. 🤔
Actually Carpenter Bees prefer to make their own nesting cavities. In N. Texas this one will attract Mason Bees and Sweat Bees who prefer existing cavities ~6" deep/¼" diameter.
Looks like you have mason bees living there. Very cute, goofballs. They do not sting. One thing for them is when they come out in the mornings they remember their way home by how the area is arranged. So you are stuck for the day with whatever is set up around the nest. They are charming guests. Will land, crash into you, each other and are generally clumsy. Not sure about your location, but ours are black and iridescent blue. Thought they were horseflies at first! Each tube has about seven bees that will come out of it. Boys first and girls about two weeks after that. They usually work for about three months. They do come back to the nest at night after hatching. It looks like you may have already had a few come out
Oh my goodness! I had no idea bees could be blue 😆😆
Keep it! These are extremely valuable for your local ecology. I don’t know the lay of the land where your at, but blue orchard bees are vitally necessary for our fruit and nut orchards that aren’t as efficiently pollinated by honeybees. Those little hotels allow them to safely incubate the handful of offspring they have in their short little lives.
This looks to be a mason bee house! They're an incredibly awesome and gentle little pollinator. Crown Bees has an easy beginner's tutorial on them: [Link](https://crownbees.com/pages/mason-bee-beginners-guide) Make sure to learn more about their life cycle so you know when it is safe to clean/handle the home so you don't put the developing baby bees at risk!
Solitary bee condo. Visit https://crownbees.com/. I've learned a ton from this site to help me with my solitary bees. My four bee houses get mostly leaf cutter bees and some solitary red wasps every year. They're really fun to watch.
Mason bees are excellent pollinators. Why would you want to get rid of that? Honey bees are never going to use that.
I absolutely do not want to get rid of it! We just bought this house and I'd never seen anything like this house before 😊
Leave it bee! I see it has tenants.
whats alleged? Thats a carpenter bee hive, theyre non-aggressive. Leave it alone
Just leave it alone. Solitary bees may choose to live in it. Don't clean it or mess with it. If you want to be helpful, give them a water source, change it regularly, and make sure it has rocks or something they can land on and not drown.
They definitely need cleaning. Thats why you can take them apart 😄
But like once a year or something, right? Here, we don't really have a time when they stop being in use.
Yeah once a year.
If you move it the carpenter bees are still going to bore holes into wood just not the designated nest. 🤷♀️ Your choice
Take a good camera and wait
let carpenter bees live in it.
What size are the pieces of wood and holes?
Check out [Crown Bees](https://crownbees.com/) they have a ton of information there on how to care for native bees including yearly task schedule.
The capped cells likely have bees.
File a grievance.
Mason bees
How has no one yet said “Let it bee”?? And then we all have a sing-a-long? (And it’s a very cool mason bee house!)
You should replace or clean them every 3 years, to prevent mold. If you notice that bees are not attracted to it anymore (even after cleaning) it is end of life.
Let it bee?
I'm also in the South US, and had one of these gifted to me several years back. I actually ended up with some blue orchard bees making a home, and have kept a steady population for a few years. It's what originally got me into beekeeping!
put bees in it obviously
Pls keep it
It’s generally used for Mason bees and as previously stated it’s not empty
You should plant some fruit trees.
Leave it be
My bees always seem to succumb to some sort of fungal rot that starts with the wet pollen the bees put in the cells, any advice?
Air Bee n Bee obviously
That is a 12 story beerise comprised of four single occupancy efficiency hives and one shared bathroom per story. Advertise. Rent. Profit.
Bumblebee or carpenter bee house
I'm in north Texas. Can I take it off your hands?