New nesting habitats for solitary bees
Am always on the look out for more natural solutions for habitats; to providing the expanding population a place to nest, so a walk in the neighbour’s overgrown garden led me to discover a possible new sort of solitary bee tube of just the right diameter. I was thrilled to realise that I may have discovered a renewable source of tubes just waiting to be adopted.
Not sure what the plant is called, but they are pretty common near brambled-type undergrowth, road edges, hedgerows and untreated patches of farm land. They can grow very tall offering white horizontally-offered tiny flowers (which I seem to remember from my youth hoverflies love). When they die their stems become hollowed and dry.
So I’ve harvested a whole bunch of them (at least 60 dead plants), the seeds long since dropped. The lower stems are approximately the right 8 to 10mm diameter for my Mason Orchard Bee (Osmia Rufa) population. I also think the more narrower upper stems might also attract smaller bees too, even leaf-cutter bees if I am lucky. I will bundle them up with string, ready to hang in early March next year.
Given the numbers of tubes I have gathered, and my other bee habitats I already use, I may try to persuade other neighbours in the village to let me put a few more around. Pictures to come.